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Making babies? Don’t diet while you do it

Even before you conceive, your diet dramatically affects the health of your child. So watch what you eat, warns Jane Bartlett

Dieting before you become pregnant can put the health of your child at risk.
So says David Barker, Professor of Epidemiology at Southampton University. His research shows that the conditions a foetus experiences in the womb are more important risk factors for heart disease and diabetes in adult life than lifestyle and genetics.

This could mean that what you eat before your child is conceived may have a bigger impact on their adult health than smoking and junk foods consumed during pregnancy. Prof Barker’s research suggests that women who diet excessively in the years before they become pregnant may produce low birth weight babies, who are predisposed to heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and strokes in later life. (Low birth weight is defined as less than 2.5 kg,
or five and a half pounds.)

If you’re dieting before you conceive and then try to compensate as soon as you see that blue line show up, it won’t help. The experts say that eating well once you’ve become pregnant doesn’t make up for earlier nutritional deficiencies. ‘If you’re not fighting fit before you conceive, it’s almost too late,’ says Professor Barker. ‘Farmers laugh at the idea of special diets in pregnancy. They know with sheep that you move them to the best fields before they mate. It’s sad that we understand more about this for livestock than for human beings.’ According to Professor Barker, children who are born small and then grow up to be overweight are especially at risk.

The first few weeks of life are crucial for a growing baby

‘So much happens in the first four to six weeks of pregnancy,’ explains Dr Wendy Doyle of the British Dietetic Association. ‘About eighty per cent of cell doublings take place in the first twelve to fourteen weeks. During that time all the major organs are formed: the cardiovascular system, the kidneys, the brain. All this happens before the pregnancy has even been confirmed.’

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