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Monday, 03 July 2006 10:47 | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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Researchers, from Kings College London and University College London, claim that Scottish babies are "programmed" to become fat while still in the womb due to women's poor diets.
The researchers found that at birth Scots babies weighed an average of 7.7lb. This compared to 7.6lb in Northern Ireland and England and 7.5lb in Wales.
By the age of nine months, Scottish infants still weighed more - 20lb compared to 19.8lb in Wales, 19.7lb in England and 19.6lb in Northern Ireland.
Professor Steve Bloom, an obesity expert at Imperial College London, said it was likely genes play some part in obesity but it was not the only factor.
He said: "The other factors that play an increasingly important role are simply lack of exercise and eating too much.
"Genes only play a small part. Tackling weight problems is still in your own hands."
Dr David Haslam, the clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, agreed that other factors also had responsibility for the current obesity epidemic.
"There is now research to suggest that at every stage in life there are factors which influence obesity," he said.
"At the moment every stage of the cycle is wrong and needs looking at. Until that happens it is like a vicious circle where a mother is imprinting her baby with a faulty metabolism which is passed on in the genes and just keeps on being passed on”.
Dr Haslam said it was "crucial" that women were educated about the effects their diet could have on their unborn child.
He said governments also had a role to play in improving opportunities to take exercise, such as creating more cycle lanes, and improving nutrition in schools.
An Executive spokeswoman said: "Across the board we are committed to Scotland shaking off its sick man of Europe tag. To do that we have to make sure youngsters across Scotland are adopting healthy habits and lifestyles from a young age”.
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