BABIES HEALTH STARTS BEFORE CONCEPTION
There's now
overwhelming evidence that a child's future health is influenced by more than
just their parents' genetic material, and that children born of unhealthy
parents will already be pre-programmed for greater risk of poor health,
according to University of Adelaide researchers.
In a feature paper called "Parenting from
before conception" published in the journal Science,
researchers at the University's Robinson Research Institute say environmental
factors prior to conception have more influence on the child's future than
previously thought.
"This really is a
new frontier for reproductive and developmental research," says
corresponding author and Director of the University's Robinson Research
Institute, Professor Sarah Robertson.
"It's only been
in the last 10 years that the science community has been seriously discussing
these issues, and only in the last five years that we've begun to understand
the mechanisms of how this is happening -- with much of the work conducted
right here at the University of Adelaide."
The paper concludes
that parental influences on a child begin before conception, because stored
environmental factors in the egg and sperm are contributing more than just genetic
material to the child.
"Many things we
do in the lead up to conceiving is having an impact on the future development
of the child -- from the age of the parents, to poor diet, obesity, smoking and
many other factors, all of which influence environmental signals transmitted
into the embryo," Professor Robertson says.
"People used to
think that it didn't matter, because a child represented a new beginning, with
a fresh start. The reality is, we can now say with great certainty that the
child doesn't quite start from scratch -- they already carry over a legacy of
factors from their parents' experiences that can shape development in the fetus
and after birth. Depending on the situation, we can give our children a burden
before they've even started life."
This includes a higher
risk of metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The
likelihood of conditions like anxiety and immune dysfunction can also be
affected.
Professor Robertson
says current research is also showing that the fathers have a much greater role
to play in this than previously thought.
Professor Robertson
says this news is not all doom and gloom for would-be parents. "A few
lifestyle changes by potential parents and improvements in the right direction,
especially in the months leading up to conception, could have a lasting,
positive benefit for the future of their child," she says.
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