Pregnant mothers-to-be and those breastfeeding who eat junk food may also be passing a craving for junk foods and a tendency towards obesity to their children. Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in London published the findings in the British Journal of Nutrition showing the rats given access to junk foods when pregnant, and/or while breastfeeding had offspring that overate and favored junk foods such as donuts and potato chips.

Diet early in life has already been illustrated to influence the health and dietary habits of individuals as they grow. However, researchers are finding that our dietary patterns may be starting much earlier in life -- before we are even born.

"Our study has shown that eating large quantities of junk food when pregnant and breastfeeding could impair the normal control of appetite and promote an exacerbated taste for junk food in offspring," says lead author Dr Stéphanie Bayol. "This could send offspring on the road to obesity and make the task of teaching healthy eating habits in children even more challenging."

Rats whose mothers had fed on junk food were separated from those whose mother fed on a balanced rat food diet. Offspring from balanced diet mothers at more when given access to sweets and processed foods. However, the offspring of mothers fed junk food ate the most of all groups engorging themselves on almost twice as the food eaten by babies fed healthy diets.

"Exposure to a maternal junk food diet during their fetal and suckling life might help explain why some individuals might find it harder than others to control their junk food intake even when given access to healthier foods later in life," explains Dr Bayol.

Press Release
Royal Veterinary College
The Wellcome Trust