Mother's diet 'can make kids fat' - Epigenetics - RXRA gene

[Guest guest]

Mother's diet 'can make kids fat.'

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13119545>

By Gallagher BBC 19 April 2011

A mother's diet during pregnancy can alter the DNA of her child and

increase the risk of obesity, a new study finds. It showed eating a lot

of carbohydrate changed bits of DNA. It then showed children with these

changes were fatter.

The report says the effect was " considerably greater " than that of birth

weight and did not depend on how thin or fat the mother was.

It is thought that a developing baby tries to predict the environment it

will be born into, taking cues from its mother and adjusting its DNA...

The changes were noticed in the RXRA gene. This makes a receptor for

vitamin A, which is involved in the way cells process fat....

more... <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13119545>

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Epigenetic Gene Promoter Methylation at Birth Is Associated With Child's

Later Adiposity

Diabetes published ahead of print April 6, 2011, doi:10.2337/db10-0979

* Abstract

<http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2011/04/04/db10-0979.abstrac\

t?sid=856fff8c-9089-4168-bc79-db2588bb882f>