Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Epub 2011 -Prenatal fatty acid status and child adiposity at age 3 y: results from a US pregnancy cohort.- Donahue SM, Rifas-Shiman SL, Gold DR, Jouni ZE, Gillman MW, Oken E.
Pub Med. Gov: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21310834
Source: Obesity Prevention Program, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
The importance of an appropriate omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio.
A recent study from Harvard Medical School examined if there was any correlation between dietary omega-3 and omega-6 consumption in pregnant women and subsequent childhood obesity.
In this study they looked at more than 1,000 women to demonstrates the importance of prenatal nutrition education and that healthy babies require much more than their mothers just avoiding alcohol and not smoking.
The fatty acid data included EPA and DHA levels as well as the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats.
WOW!-The lower the DHA and EPA levels in the mother, the higher the likelihood that the child would be obese.
They found that obesity was 2 to 4 times more likely with an out of balance omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
Only 3% of the pregnant women consumed even the low recommended amounts of DHA.
This could suggest poor carbohydrate tolerance as well as possible hormone dysregulation.
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