Oregon: Home of the Big Baby
Oregonian, June 8, 2011
An interesting story in The Oregonian this morning about the trend of women having bigger babies here in Oregon and across the nation.
What’s causing the trend? Is it higher fat diets? Is it linked to certain foods or changing lifestyles? No one knows for sure.
We do however know quite a bit about the links between a pregnant woman’s diet and the impacts on her offspring.
From The Oregonian:
“Bradley cites the work of Dr. David Barker, a professor who splits his time between Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Southampton in England. For decades now, Barker has linked prenatal nutrition and health later in life, a connection widely accepted today. Research shows obese or diabetic mothers more likely to have large babies, and more likely to develop gestational diabetes while pregnant. That in turn makes the mothers a higher risk for diabetes down the road, according to Bradley.”
In addition to the above research mentioned in the article, OHSU’s Oregon National Primate Research Center has also made some very significant findings. Most recently, ABC 20/20 aired this piece on the links between high fat diets during pregnancy and health problems:
As for the “big baby” phenomenon, any thoughts readers on what scientists should investigate as possible links?
Hi! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I genuinely enjoy reading your articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same topics? Many thanks!