April 24, 2009 -- It's not just what you eat and how much you exercise that can pack on the pounds. What your mother consumed during her pregnancy may also add to your own waistline later in life. A new study found that pregnant women who ate the most DDT-contaminated fish while pregnant in the 1970s had daughters that carried as much as 20 extra pounds three decades later. The study adds to growing evidence that chemicals in the environment can affect body weight and that conditions in the womb can have health effects in adulthood. "The things that mothers are exposed to and that circulate in their blood while babies are in utero really do make a difference a long time later," said Janet Osuch, an epidemiologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing. "Obesity researchers have not looked at this at all." In the early 1970s, the Michigan Department of Community Health began monitoring people who live along the shores of Lake Michigan. Industrial dumping in the lake, starting in the 1920s, has led to high levels of contaminants in the water, particularly of PCBs and DDE (the major breakdown product of the pesticide DDT). Related Content:
Over the years, periodic blood testing of Michigan residents helped confirm that people who ate lots of sport-caught fish from the lake harbored large burdens of PCBs and DDE in their bodies. These chemicals tend to magnify in fatty tissues as they move up the food chain. And they have been linked to all sorts of negative health problems. Osuch and colleagues took the study one generation further. The researchers contacted more than 200 women who were daughters of the original study group. (The sons proved harder to reach, but may be the subject of a follow-up study). Previous studies with some of these daughters, whose average age was now 30, found that those with the highest levels of prenatal exposure to PCBs and DDE started menstruating earlier, were able to get pregnant more easily, breastfed for shorter periods, and had higher levels of diabetes, among other conflicting and intriguing differences. Get More NewsMouse Cloned From Long-Frozen CellResearchers create a mouse from a long-frozen cell. Will the mammoth be next?'Bubble' Could Protect AstronautsScientists say a "bubble" around a Mars-bound spaceship could protect astronauts.Big Reduction of Snowmobiles in Yellowstone ProposedA new plan would cut snowmobile use by 40 percent in Yellowstone.Microbes: Fuel of the Future?A reddish South American microbe is literally breathing fuel, say scientists.DNA Links Remains to Steve FossetDNA tests on two bones found in California confirm they are those of Steve Fossett.Women Carry More Bacteria Than MenSome bacteria prefer women, suggests a new study. But why?Ancient 'Water Monster' Facing ExtinctionA foot-long salamander that was a key part of Aztec legend is threatened by extinction.Grand Canyon's Youth ConfirmedThe Grand Canyon is millions of years younger than previously thought, argue geologists.My Take: E-Voting Not User FriendlyOpinion: Electronic voting machines don't always capture the intent of voters.SLIDE SHOW: Landscapes of TerrorWhat makes a place feel scary? There are scientific explanations.At 40, Brain and Body SlowThe part of the brain in charge of motion starts a gradual slide in middle age.Spiders, Scorpions Among World's Oldest CreaturesMany creepy crawlies have been on Earth much longer than previously believed.Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing DuetsWhite-winged vampire bats "harmonize" with separated roost mates. |
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