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Mothers who are on a junk food diet during pregnancy may seriously damage the long-term health of their child, according to research published this month.
The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, was carried out on rats, but scientists say they have every reason to think human babies may suffer as much harm as the offspring of rodents from exposure in the womb to high levels of fats, sugar and salt.
Last year the same team, from the Royal Veterinary College, London, published work showing that rats fed a diet of junk food were likely to have overweight babies that had a preference for junk food.
The new study, published in the Journal of Physiology, finds that the bad effects are lasting.
Even when the baby rats have been weaned off junk food and onto a normal diet, they are likely to grow up fatter than normal and with a raised risk of heart disease and diabetes.
"It seems that a mother's diet while pregnant and breastfeeding is very important for the long-term health of her child," says Dr Stephanie Bayol, one of the report's authors. "We always say, 'You are what you eat'. In fact, it may also be true that 'You are what your mother ate'. This does not mean that obesity and poor health is inevitable and it is important that we take care of ourselves and live a healthy lifestyle. But it does mean that mothers must eat responsibly while pregnant."
Bayol and her colleague, Professor Neil Stickland, fed one group of female rats on processed food such as doughnuts, muffins, biscuits, chocolate, crisps and sweets during pregnancy and lactation, while a second, control group were given a healthy diet.
Once they had reached adulthood, the rats whose mothers ate junk food were still fatter than those in the control group. Most worryingly, excess fat accumulated around the kidneys.
Obesity has already reached high levels in the Middle East and health experts are urging life-style changes and launching healthy eating and exercise initiatives.
