In Europe, nearly one in 3 schoolchildren under the age of 10 is overweight, otherwise obese. In the try to find the induce of this phenomenon, fetal programming inside a mother’s womb was position under scrutiny as a potential culprit for this “heavy issue”. The hypothesis that the mother’s diet regimen could have actually some sort of motivate could not be confirmed in a lasting study: administering a special diet regimen rich in omega-3 fatty acids and reduced in arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid, to pregnant women neither resulted in youngsters being slimmer nor fatter compared to their counterparts from the manage group whose mothers had watched a typical diet.
Up to now, the general consensus had been that “bad” fats, especially omega-6 fatty acids, consumed throughout pregnancy increased the formation of infantile fat cells, while “good” omega-3 fatty acids protected the kid versus becoming overweight. Since, in the pet model, an increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids throughout pregnancy and lactation coupled along with a simultaneous reduction in arachidonic acids resulted in offspring along with a significantly lesser tendency to come to be overweight, the INFAT human study was the initial to investigate whether this result was translatable onto humans.
“Translating the findings from pet trials onto the human organism is constantly a challenge”, says Professor Hans Hauner, Head of the Else-Kröner-Fresenius Focus for Nutritional Medicine at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). “However, the prospects of this being applicable were really attractive: had it been confirmed, mothers would certainly have actually been able to protect to guarantee lifelong protection for their offspring versus becoming overweight, or also obese, ideal from the rather start.”
Over 200 women took section in the lasting study
208 women along with an standard age of 32 years and a BMI of 22 took section in this study conducted by Prof. Hauner from the Chair of Nutritional Medicine at TUM, which was aimed at verifying this hypothesis. While half of the study group continued along with a typical diet, the others 104-women-solid group ate an omega-3 rich diet regimen coupled along with a considerable reduction in meat consumption (consists of omega-6 fatty acids) from the twelfth week of pregnancy to the fourth month of lactation. The youngsters of the cohort mothers were examined as soon as a year until the age of five, making the INFAT study the initial study to deliver valid data over such an extensive period.
“We after that examined the youngsters utilizing 3 various methods: firstly we measured their skin fold thickness, after that ultrasound investigations were added as these are much more accurate”, explains Prof. Hauner from the Chair of Nutritional Medicine at TUM – “and in one section of the cohort we additionally used MRS imaging to measure the fat inside the abdominal cavity.
The end result was negative: „this special diet regimen had no effect on the weight of the babies and toddlers”, says Hauner. This proves that the earlier findings are not translatable onto people and that the hoped-for incentive of such a diet regimen is questionable as it does not appear to stay clear of childhood obesity. According to the study’s authors, it might, however, be feasible that a mother’s diet regimen throughout early pregnancy has actually others helpful effects, which would certainly have actually to be determined in further clinical studies.
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INFAT: Impact of Nutritional Fatty Acids throughout Pregnancy and Lactation on Early Human Adipose Tissue Development
Publication: Brei C, Stecher L, A lot D, Karla M-T, Amann-Gassner U, Shen J, Ganter C, Karampinos DC, Brunner S, Hauner H.: Reduction of the n-6:n-3 long-chain PUFA ration throughout pregnancy and lactation on offspring physique composition: follow-up outcomes from a randomized controlled trial up to 5 y of age. American Diary of Clinical Nutrition 2016. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.115.1285twenty http://ajcn. nutrition. org/ content/ early/ 2016/ 04/ 06/ ajcn. 115. 128520
Contact: Prof. Dr. Hans Hauner
Technical University of Munich
Chair of Nutritional Medicine
Else-Kröner-Fresenius Focus for Nutritional Medicine
Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2
D-85354 Freising
Tel: +49/8161/ 71 – 2000
E-Mail: hans.hauner@tum.de
http://www. em-tum. de/
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