Being overweight increases asthma risk of unborn child, research reveals
Being overweight or obese before becoming pregnant can put that woman's child at increased risk of developing asthma in adolescence.That is according to research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The study showed that teenagers whose mothers were either severely overweight or obese prior to pregnancy were 20 to 30 per cent more likely to suffer from wheezing or asthma.
Among the teenagers whose mothers were the most overweight, the risk increased further still as 47 per cent reported severe wheezing during adolescence.
The researchers suggest that being overweight can also disturb the levels of leptin, a hormone which affects the development of the lungs of a foetus inside the womb.
In 2007, a report in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology showed that women who gained an excessive amount of weight in pregnancy were more likely to give birth to a baby who is overweight.
