A new University of Georgia study suggests that mothers who consume a diet high in trans fats double the likelihood that their infants will have high levels of body fat.
Researchers, whose results appear in the early online edition of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that infants whose mothers consumed more than 4.5 grams of trans fats per day while breastfeeding were twice as likely to have high percentages of body fat, than infants whose mothers consumed less than 4.5 grams per day of trans fats.
The researchers investigated different fatty acids, but determined trans fats to be the most important contributor to excess body fat.
Researchers note that although breast milk is optimal for the health of infants, it could also contain high levels of trans fats, depending on the mother's diet.
The researchers also found that mothers who consumed more than 4.5 grams of trans fats per day increased their own risk of excessive fat accumulation, independent of pre-pregnancy weight, by almost six times. This data suggests that trans fats intake could have a more significant weight-gain effect on breastfeeding mothers than it does at other times in their lives researchers say.
Researchers, whose results appear in the early online edition of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that infants whose mothers consumed more than 4.5 grams of trans fats per day while breastfeeding were twice as likely to have high percentages of body fat, than infants whose mothers consumed less than 4.5 grams per day of trans fats.
The researchers investigated different fatty acids, but determined trans fats to be the most important contributor to excess body fat.
Researchers note that although breast milk is optimal for the health of infants, it could also contain high levels of trans fats, depending on the mother's diet.
The researchers also found that mothers who consumed more than 4.5 grams of trans fats per day increased their own risk of excessive fat accumulation, independent of pre-pregnancy weight, by almost six times. This data suggests that trans fats intake could have a more significant weight-gain effect on breastfeeding mothers than it does at other times in their lives researchers say.
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