More support for families to lead healthier lifestyles is needed

Faculty of Medicine researchers are calling for more support to help families lead healthier lifestyles before conception and in early pregnancy after two new studies show how the health of the mother can impact the future health of their children.

The first study analysed the data from more than 650,000 mothers in the UK to create the first national picture of women’s health before pregnancy.

Led by Dr Danielle Schoenaker and published in BJOG , an international journal of obstetrics & gynaecology, it found nine in ten women in England enter pregnancy with at least one indicator that may increase health risks to them and their baby.

Common indicators were women not quitting smoking, failing to take folic acid before pregnancy or having a previous pregnancy loss.

The second study revealed that women with obesity may share the risk of the disease with their daughters, but not their sons.

The research, published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism , measured body fat and muscle in 240 children and their parents, who took part in the Southampton Women’s Survey, a long-running study that tracks the health of mothers and their children.

Children were measured at ages four, six to seven and eight to nine. The parents were measured when their children were eight to nine years of age.

The researchers used this data to determine whether the body mass index (BMI)—a screening tool for overweight and obesity—and the amount of body fat and muscle in the child was related to that of their parents.

They found the girls had similar BMI and fat mass to their mothers when they were six to seven and eight to nine years old, suggesting that girls born to mothers who have obesity or have high fat mass are at high risk of also developing obesity or be overweight.

However, the researchers did not find the same association between boys and their mothers or with either girls or boys and their fathers.

Faculty researchers say their findings show an urgent need for nationwide policies to help women improve health before conception and in early pregnancy to reduce health risks to their children.

Dr Rebecca Moon, a Clinical Lecturer at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre (MRC LEC), led the study into obesity risk and said: "These findings highlight that girls born to mothers who have obesity or have high amounts of body fat may be at higher risk of gaining excess body fat themselves.

“Further studies are needed to understand why this is happening, but our findings suggest that approaches to addressing body weight and composition should start very early in life, particularly in girls born to mothers with obesity and overweight. We need to help families lead healthier lifestyles before they become pregnant so the risk of their children developing obesity is reduced.”

Speaking about her study Dr Schoenaker, said: “Our analysis shows that there is an urgent need for the government, NHS and public health agencies to develop and put in place population-level policies and programmes that support all women to be as healthy as possible before and between pregnancies.”

“Such policies may start from educating children about the importance of being healthy before starting a family, to improving food environment and affordability and implementing effective mandatory flour fortification with folic acid.”

“Routine conversations and support for pregnancy preparation could also be offered by primary healthcare services.”

Both studies involved researchers from the University of Southampton, University Hospital Southampton and the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre.