Research consistently shows diet during pregnancy is important for prevention of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and the metabolic syndrome. Investigators at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, looked at the glycemic index or GI of food eaten by pregnant women and their children's chance of developing the metabolic syndrome 20 years later.
Their study, reported on in May 2014 in PLOS ONE, included 428 mothers and their children. It was found mothers who ate food with the highest glycemic indexes had children with the...
• highest level of insulin resistance,
• highest blood insulin levels, and
• highest blood leptin levels
at 20 years of age.
From the above results it was concluded the characteristics associated with the metabolic syndrome were highest in adult children of women whose diets had the highest glycemic indexes during pregnancy.
The Mayo Clinic in the United States defines metabolic syndrome as a group of conditions that make Type 2 diabetes and heart and blood vessel disease more likely. The conditions include...
• too much fat around the waistline,
• high cholesterol,
• high blood pressure, and
• high blood sugar levels.
The National Institute of Health in the USA adds high HDL and triglycerides to the picture.
Leptin is a molecule associated with fat and body weight regulation. Leptin resistance is associated with weight gain and obesity.
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