Is newborn puppy fat all down to whether mother eats good fats?

A DIET rich in ‘good fats’ such as fish, nuts and olive oil during pregnancy is linked to higher fat levels in Irish newborns, a new study has revealed.

Research carried out for the UCD Centre for Human Reproduction found that intakes of polyunsaturated fat in the diets of Irish expectant mothers in early pregnancy is directly linked to body fat in newborns.

However, high fat levels at birth doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll grow up to be overweight. The study found: ‘While we know there is a relationship between the mother’s intake of polyunsaturated fat and her baby’s body fat levels at birth, we need to determine if these dietary intakes increases the likelihood of higher body fat levels as these babies progress into childhood.’

The research comes at a time when one in four Irish children are overweight or obese.

While there was no relationship between the mother’s food intake and birth weight, clinical dietitian, Rachel Kennedy, who led the study, found so-called ‘good fats’ have an effect on the baby’s body.

She said: ‘This study shows that there is a link between the level of polyunsaturated fat, which comes from foods such as oily fish, nuts and seeds in women’s diet in early pregnancy and the proportion of body fat their baby has.’

Polyunsaturated fats are associated with health benefits and also contain beneficial nutrients for pregnancy.

The study on nearly 400 women attending the Coombe Hospital in Dublin measured women’s food intake using a questionnaire detailing her consumption of 170 food and beverage items – while their infants were later measured and weighed at birth to determine their baby’s body fat.

Director of the UCD centre, Professor Michael Turner, said the new research shows that women need to be careful of their fat intake. He said: ‘In early pregnancy, women and their babies need dietary fat because it contains fat soluble vitamins.

‘However, excessive fat intake may end up in the long term on their baby’s hips as well as their own.’ More research is needed to determine the long-term implications of babies being born with higher body fat.

However, dietitian Rachel Kennedy said: ‘Evidence suggests that they may be at risk of health complications such as type 2 diabetes.

‘Interestingly, there was no relationship between saturated fat intake in early pregnancy and the body fat levels of the baby at birth,’ she added.

‘The main message is the need for pregnant women to have a diet balanced between proteins, carbohydrates and different fats.’

One in three of the expectant mums in the study were overweight, while one in ten were obese.

One in eight of the women were smokers while nearly six out of ten said they drank alcohol habitually, according to the research just published in the Journal of Public Health.

The study also found that baby girls tended to have a higher fat mass than their male counterparts. The paper noted that inadequate intakes of key nutrients at critical periods of pregnancy can have lasting harmful effects on the developing foetus.

‘Low maternal iron status has been linked with low birthweight [while] low vitamin D status has [also] been linked with low birthweight and poor skeletal development.

‘Research has shown a deficiencies of nutrients at sensitive periods of gestation may compromise the long-term health of the foetus by subverting normal tissue growth and organogenesis in the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, musculo-skeletal, neurological, immune and endocrine systems. Conversely, excess nutrient intakes can also influence foetal growth,’ it found.

‘May be at risk of diabetes’ ‘Bad’ fats do not have same effect