Go easy on all the make-up, moms-to-be are advised

PREGNANT mothers should avoid certain types of make-up to ensure their children grow up healthy.

Women who use a lot of make-up containing a chemical called butyl paraben could be at greater risk of having overweight babies and children. The commonly used chemical may disrupt the development of the growing baby’s brain, making them overeat.

Scientists monitored exposure of pregnant mothers to butyl paraben. The chemical is used as a preservative as it has anti-bacterial and fungicidal properties.

Levels of the chemical were tested in 629 pregnant women and their children. The future mothers had their urine checked and were asked to fill in a questionnaire about the cosmetics they used in the 34th week of pregnancy. After birth, the children’s body weight and height were assessed annually up to the age of eight. The authors found the mothers who had higher levels of the chemical in their urine had a higher risk of offspring who would be overweight in early to midchildhood – with a “stronger trend in girls”. Researchers led by Tobias Polte from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig reported their findings in Nature Communications.

In further research, the authors showed that exposure to butyl paraben in pregnant mice led to their female mice eating more and gaining more weight.

However, Dr Amy Heffernan, of Melbourne’s Florey Institute, said: “Studies in mice are not the same as studies in humans. Diet and exercise are much more important than paraben exposure in healthy weight management.