Diet, "Window of Vulnerability" and Pregnancy

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Several studies have indicated that a mother’s diet in pregnancy may have lasting effects for the off spring. A poor diet during pregnancy can cause biological changes that last throughout life.

“There are around 100 imprinted genes, about 0.4% of the total in the genome, and most appear to have their greatest impact during pregnancy. The pattern by which imprinted genes are ‘set’ in early life plays an important part in the development of healthy offspring. If a gene is ‘miss-set’ then problems may occur later,” says Dr Mathew Van de Pette, a lead author based at the MRC LMS.

He added: “We found that mice fed a low protein diet in pregnancy produced offspring in which the father’s copy of the gene became active and stayed that way. This demonstrates a clear link between early life adversity and later life outcomes.”

“We were surprised that this change in diet permanently affected the expression of this imprinted gene,” said Professor Amanda Fisher, who led the study and is director of the MRC LMS. “Our work suggests there may be a window of vulnerability when diet can indeed have an effect, and that once these genes are set, they’re set for life,” Professor Fisher said. “The good news is that we’ve also shown that it’s possible to avoid this with a normal diet". Read more here.

Now the good news as mentioned above is the fact that a normal diet can limit such vulnerabilities. However, a “normal diet” is a luxury the poor and needy women back in Africa cannot afford.  Diet within the countries with the greatest burden of maternal and child death is complex, because it depends on multiple factors such as economic, social and cultural.

Sustainable strategies have to be put in place to help pregnant women to improve their nutritional wellbeing, and that of their unborn babies. It is paramount that pregnant women and the precious life within them begin to be recognized as part of the vulnerable portion of the society.

As always I am an avid advocate for the increased assistance to these women, in the form of reducing their financial burdens, improving their access to education, and information. This education should include the importance of health and nutrition, utilization of maternal health services, and good child spacing.

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