A new study at University of Queensland has found that grandchildren of obese women are at a greater risk of being overweight and related health problems.
According to Abdullah Mamun, an associate professor at UQ’s School of Public Health, he was investigating how grandparents’ and parental health, lifestyle and socio-economic status may create a family legacy of obesity and its associated health problems.
Mamun further added that he was exploring whether pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and post-partum factors play any role on the development of obesity for both mothers and their offspring.
The researcher claims that his study establishes that the obesity of maternal grandmothers appears to have a greater impact on the obesity of grandchildren.
“As genetic and lifestyle factors are shared equally across maternal and paternal lines, the stronger association with the maternal grandmother may suggest that a pregnant woman’s diet and her exposure to conditions such as gestational diabetes and high blood pressure may have an impact on not only her child but her grandchild”, Mamun said.
According to the World Health Organization, the global prevalence of obesity has more than doubled since 1980 and most of the world’s populations live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.
Statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that more than 12 million people in Australia, or around 50 per cent of the population, are considered overweight or obese.
