Life in the womb is key to wellbeing in later life
12 September 2006
Newborn babies have already acquired many characteristics that will determine health in later life, reports the Medical Research Council scientist Dr Hazel Inskip from Southampton University.
Dr Inskip is a lead scientist on the Southampton Women’s Survey, a study to examine the effects of the mother’s diet, health and environment before and during pregnancy on the growth and development of the foetus and child. The study also looks at how influences on children in early life and their genetic make-up affect their growth and their later risks of developing heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and respiratory disease.
Previous studies from around the world have shown that people who were born small have higher risks in adult life of developing coronary heart disease, diabetes, raised blood pressure and cholesterol, obesity and osteoporosis.
Studies have shown that the mother’s height and weight and what she eats during pregnancy are likely to influence the growth of the foetus and the long-term health of the child. Shorter, thinner women tend to have smaller babies. However, a woman may be small because of poorer nutrition in her life and possibly that of her mother and grandmother.
The Southampton Women’s Survey shows that young women’s diets vary hugely. Well-educated women tend to eat better. Smokers eat less well. Young women eat less well if there are children living in the home. The way in which a woman processes protein in her body during pregnancy influences her baby’s length, and her stores of vitamins and micronutrients affect the baby’s development. Mothers with low levels of vitamin D in their blood in pregnancy have babies with weaker bones at birth, with long term implications for the risk of developing osteoporosis and bone fractures in later life.
However, Dr Inskip told the BA Festival in Norwich that there are still unanswered questions. “Smaller infants appear to be at greater risk of heart disease in later life, but larger infants tend to risk becoming obese. Rapid growth in early life also has a negative effect on lung development in the infant. We don’t know yet what constitutes optimum growth.”
Dr Inskip adds: “Improving growth and development in the womb and in early life will increase our chance of a long and healthy life. It’s too late for any of us personally to alter what happened to us when we were born, but we can improve our health prospects and those of our children at any stage.”
