Obesity comes with a huge range of health issues that can play a big role in your general wellness. People who are obese are much more likely to suffer with heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis than people of a normal weight. It’s clear that being obese isn’t good for our health. But now a study conducted by Northwestern Medicine has suggested that pregnant women who are obese are at risk of passing on insufficient levels of vitamin D to their babies.
The study revealed that babies who are born to mothers of normal weight had vitamin D levels a third higher than babies who are born to obese mothers. Previous studies have suggested that obese women have lower levels of the vitamin in their blood. However, in this study both the obese women and the leaner woman had similar levels of vitamin D. Nevertheless, the obese women were found to give birth to babies with lower levels of the vitamin than the leaner women.
A high majority of the women in the study were taking prenatal vitamin supplements which could explain why the obese women had normal levels of vitamin D. Yet the supplements appeared to have no effect on whether the babies were passed levels of the vitamin, as women of normal weight gave birth to babies with a higher rate.
The dangers of vitamin D deficiency in babies are not yet fully known. Adults with lower levels of vitamin D are more likely to develop autoimmune diseases, inflammation and even obesity. As the early years of a child’s develop are so important to their future wellbeing, getting the correct levels of vitamin D in their bodies can play a key role. The study is clear that obese mothers need much higher levels of vitamin D in their bodies to provide their babies with a healthy amount.
Comments are closed.