Study from the Tommy’s Centre for Maternal and Fetal Health

shows that children of obese mothers face risk of early death. A study from the MRC CRH and CCVS has shown that children born to obese mothers are more likely to die early as adults than those whose mothers were a normal weight. The study published in the BMJ shows that the offspring of obese mothers are one-third more likely to die before the age of 55, mainly as a result of heart disease, researchers found. Children born to mothers who were overweight when they became pregnant were also 10 per cent more likely to die prematurely in later life than those born to mothers of a normal weight. The study, led by Professor Rebecca Reynolds, analysed the health records of more than 37,000 babies delivered between 1950 and 1976. The research found, for children of mothers who were obese when they fell pregnant, hospital admissions in later life with heart problems including angina, heart attacks and strokes were almost a third greater than for children born to mothers with a normal body weight. The study follows previous research which found that offspring born to obese mothers were more likely to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. During the timeframe of the study one in 25 expectant mothers was obese. Today, it is estimated at aroun