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 Latest Health News
Maternal and Infant Health & Nutrition
Articles
The following
is a selection of articles from past issues of Beck Health & Nutrition's Latest Health News
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Does
my mum look big?
For
many years pregnant women were encouraged to 'eat for two' during pregnancy
however two recent US studies reveal that children born to mothers who put
on a lot of weight during pregnancy are particularly prone to becoming
overweight themselves, even by the age of 3. And even women who follow
official advice on how much weight they should gain during pregnancy may be
priming their children for obesity.
Childhood obesity has tripled both in Australia and the US since 1980 with
research suggesting that children are being condemned to a life of obesity
while still in the womb. Researchers from the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reviewed national health records, finding a
correlation between excessive pregnancy weight gain and obesity among
children aged 2 to 4.
However researchers from Harvard Medical School found that even women who
follow official advice on how much weight they should gain throughout their
pregnancy may be priming their children for obesity. These findings may
however be slightly countered by differences in official recommendations for
pregnancy weight gain.
Official US guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy suggest that a
“normal” woman should gain a total of 11.5 and 16 kilograms in total whereas
the World Health Organization suggests 10-12.5 kilograms (Australian
recommendations suggest a similar range of 10-13kg).
The US
Institute of Medicine, the prime public health body in the US, plans to
convene a workshop in 2006 to consider this new data on the consequences of
weight gain during pregnancy and childhood obesity. In the meantime
researchers warn pregnant women against adopting a restrictive diet in the
hope of slimmer children as women who fail to gain sufficient weight during
pregnancy are at greater risk of problems, including premature births.
The
current recommendation for additional food intake during pregnancy is
for an extra 850-1100kJ per day during the second and third trimesters
(which roughly equates to a glass of milk or a sandwich).
Source:
Aldhous P, New Scientist magazine, Issue 2528 (01 December 2005), p.14.
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Breastfeeding valued at $2.2 billion a year
A NSW
Health study of breastfeeding recommends that breastfeeding mothers should
be regarded as food producers and suggests that breast pumps be GST-free,
putting breastfeeding mothers the same category as farmers.
Economists estimate that the 34
million litres of breast milk produced by Australian mothers each year was
worth $2.2 billion (based on breast milk's value in European milk banks,
where breast milk is stored and sold).
Nutrition and physical activity
manager at NSW Health Liz Develin comments "It's incredibly expensive to
feed babies formula. Then there's the cost of healthcare services that
breastfeeding prevents."
The study advocates exclusive
breastfeeding for the six months of an infants life followed by continued
breastfeeding until 12 months in conjunction with the introduction of other
foods. The study estimates that present and future worth of
breastfeeding to Australia to be in the vicinity of $37 billion.
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Source: Sydney Morning Herald, March 17
2005 |
Taste for meat made humans early
weaners
In non-industrialised
societies, women breastfeed their children for an average of two and a half
years, while chimpanzees feed theirs for five. Anthropologist Gail Kennedy of
the University of California has proposed that a taste for meat prompted early
humans to wean their children at a younger age than other great apes.
Kennedy suggests that humans made the transition to
early weaning 2.6 million years ago at a time when a branch of hominids
began to eat animal carcasses - a dangerous quest that would have brought them
into contact with other predators and significantly increased chance of
death for the hunters. This would have created a pressure to wean infants
earlier and earlier, since those no longer dependent on breast milk would have
been more likely to survive their mother's death.
Nutritionally the
benefit of eating meat at a younger age would have enhanced the rate at
which children's brains grow and develop. Human brains grow three times
quicker than those of chimpanzees.
But Barry Bogin of
the University of Michigan provides another rationale for early weaning. He
believes it allowed hominid mothers to have more offspring. "By weaning at
30 months, we have a great reproductive jump over our closest cousins; we
can crank out two babies in the time it takes a chimpanzee to have one," he
says.
Journal reference: Journal of Human Evolution (DOI:
10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.09.005), reported in Gosline A, 2005, Taste for meat
made humans early weaners, New Scientist Magazine, 26 January 2005.
Bigger women need more pre-pregnancy folate
Women with a body mass index
greater (BMI) than 30 may need additional folate over and above current
recommendation levels for women of childbearing age. Higher pre-pregnancy
body mass index (BMI) is associated with increased risk of neural tube
defects (NTDs) a condition linked with low maternal folate levels. Using
data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, it was
estimated that women with a BMI greater than 30 would need to take an
additional 350 microg/day of folate to achieve the same serum folate level
as women with a BMI less than 20. To calculate BMI use the following
equation:
Body Mass Index =
weight (kg) / (height (m) x height (m)
Example 60kg, 154
cm woman = 60/(1.54 x 1.54) = 25.3 BMI
Source: Mojtabai R, 2004, Body mass index and serum folate in
childbearing age women, Eur J Epidemiol, vol. 19, no.11,
pp.1029-36.
Caesarean Section
and food allergies
Babies born by caesarean section
may be more prone to developing food intolerances, a study reported
in New Scientist has found. The 865 babies involved in the study are
now aged six and the German researchers are now looking into whether or
not they are also more prone to asthma and other allergies. One theory
for the susceptibility is that babies born by caesarean don't get a
chance to swallow beneficial bacteria during the birth process. For
details visit
www.newscientist.com.au
How does breastfeeding protect against overweight and
obesity?
Several
studies have concluded that breastfeeding may protect infants against future
overweight problems however exactly why this is remains unclear. One
possible theory is that breastfeeding promotes a style of feeding that mothers
are responsive to their baby's cues of hunger and satiety (fullness),
thereby allowing the baby greater scope to self-regulate their energy intake.
A US study to be published in Journal of Pediatrics concluded mothers who
breastfed in infancy reported less restrictive behaviour regarding child feeding
at 1 year.
Tavera
EM et al, 2004, 'Association of breastfeeding with maternal control of infant
feeding at age 1 year', Pediatrics, Oct 18 (published online (Epub) ahead
of print.
Men may 'inherit' sperm
damage
We have known for decades that
smoking can affect male fertility however the concept that male smokers could
actually pass this reduced sperm count down to their sons and even grandsons is
an alarming new concept. Over the past 50 years rates of fertility
measured as sperm counts have fallen by 50 per cent however smoking may not be
the only culprit for this massive reduction in male fertility.
Sperm counts have been falling
dramatically since the Second World War and the birth of the chemicals industry,
so that really points the finger at industrial chemicals, solvents, cleaning
products, etc. In the past we have concerned ourselves with not
exposing pregnant mothers to cigarette smoke and other chemicals but we really
need to re-focus now on protecting men against these agents, not only for their
own health, but for the benefit of future generations.
A lot of evidence suggests that
these environmental impacts on fathers that can cause genetic disease in their
offspring and while researchers say that the likelihood of these environmental
factors giving rise to sudden birth defects simply because the DNA damaged
induced in a father's sperm is unlikely the greater concern comes from the
compound effects of ancestors of both the mother and father. Only one or
two per cent of the genome is coding for anything, and the likelihood that you
hit a key gene is remote. But if your genome has been damaged by your
great-grandfather's pipe smoking habit, and your wife's genome has been damaged
because her great-grandad worked in the wood processing industry, then it's the
coming together of these damaged genomes which may start to reveal dramatic
genetic problems.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2004/s1108469.htm
Iron for babies
Teenagers who were iron
deficient as babies are likely to lag behind their peers in both motor and
cognitive skills, even if the deficiency was treated during infancy.
University of Michigan researchers examined 191 children at five years, 11-14
and at 15-17. The iron deficient group fared worse on the cognitive
measures and that difference increased over time. They scored six points
lower on mental tests as 1-2 years and were 11 points lower at 15-18 years.
Fish, what's
all the Fuss?
In March
of
this year Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) updated their advice to
on mercury in fish. The revised advice has been extended to provide not just
advice for pregnant women, and women considering pregnancy, but also for young
children and the general population. There are only a few types of fish that
FSANZ recommends limiting in the diet – these are billfish (swordfish/broadbill
and marlin), shark/flake, orange roughy (also known as sea perch) and catfish.
Pregnant women, women planning pregnancy, and young children should limit their
intake of shark (flake), broadbill, marlin and swordfish to no more than one
serve per fortnight with no other fish to be consumed during that fortnight.
For orange roughy and catfish, the advice is to consume no more than one serve
per week, with no other fish being consumed during that week.
Fish is an excellent source of protein for all people, it is low in saturated
fats and high in unsaturated fats and omega 3 oils and is an excellent source of
iodine. Because of this it is important that women in particular continue to
eat fish throughout pregnancy. However some types of fish, usually those large
species that are at the top of the food chain or that live a long time may
accumulate higher levels of mercury. FSANZ therefore advises against eating too
much of these types of fish. This advice is particularly important to pregnant
women because the unborn baby is more vulnerable to the harmful effects of
mercury.
It is essential that people not interpret this as advice to stop or reduce their
consumption of fish. Health benefits
from eating oily fish generally outweigh potential problems about pollutants and
toxins. Aim for one to two portions of salmon, mackerel or tuna each week. Eat
a variety of fish but limit consumption of those species of fish with high
mercury levels.
Revised
Infant Feeding Guidelines
Australia's
National Health and Medical Research Council has revised it's guidelines for the
introduction of solid foods for infants. The new recommendations encourage
exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life.
For more information go to
www.health.gov.au/nhmrc.
A complete list of
references
is available by emailing
info@beckhealth.com.au
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