Question: Can fatty foods our mothers ate before we were born affect what diseases we are likely to catch?

Simon Langley-Evans answered on 12 Nov 2013:

What a great question callumh! The answer is yes definitely. Everything about the diet in pregnancy is important. All of the organs that have to last us all our lives are formed and begin to grow before we are born. The way they grow is controlled by the nutrients that the mother can provide. If things are not right, the changes to those organs can never be recovered.

Women who eat lots of fatty food are likely to be overweight and that is very risky for babies. Overweight women are more likely to have a miscarriage, or to have their babies prematurely. My work has shown that as well as these big risks to the baby before birth, in the longer-term the risks of disease are higher too. Babies from fatter women are more likely to have diabetes when they are older and also to have heart disease.

Studies in animals show that feeding fatty and sugary foods in pregnancy results in babies that have a strong preference to eat unhealthy junk foods when they are adults. Their livers work differently and their kidneys are abnormal too and this can lead to health problems as they age.