Lifestyle choices during pregnancy can have an impact on the engine development of the child until the age of 5 to 6 years

The lifestyle choices during pregnancy have large -scale effects on child neurodevelopment. A mother-child study conducted at the University Hospital of the University of Turku and Turku in Finland studied the long-term effects of maternal risk factors on the engine development of the child at the age of 5 to 6 years.

The study was published in the newspaper ESPEN clinical nutrition.

Children were tested for motor performance, including fine and raw motor skills and balance, as well as for a possible developmental coordination disorder.

All mothers who participated in the study were overweight or obese depending on pregnancy body mass index. Mother’s body composition was measured using the plethysmography by displacement of air and gestational diabetes was diagnosed with an oral glucose tolerance test.

The food intake during pregnancy was evaluated with a questionnaire on the consumption of fish, and Food regimeswho were divided into two healthy and unhealthy categories were determined from the food newspapers.

Among the children who participated in the study, 14% received a diagnosis of development coordination disorder at the age of 5 to 6 years. This figure is almost three times higher than the average prevalence of disorder among the general population of children.

“Our study is the first to examine developmental coordination disorder in children whose mothers had overweight or obesity during pregnancy,” said doctoral researcher Lotta Saros of the Biomedicine Institute of the University of Turku.

Researchers also discovered that children whose mothers had higher body fat or percentage of body fat were more at risk of dyspraxia at the age of 5 to 6 years.

According to the researchers, the precise measure of the body composition has demonstrated this association, while a wider measure based on body mass index did not do it. No association was found between gestational diabetes and engine development.

“Based on our results, it seems that a higher amount of body fat during the mother’s pregnancy is reflected in the lower engine development of the child,” said Saros.

Healthy diet during pregnancy supports the child’s engine development

The study also revealed that a healthier maternal diet at the start of pregnancy was associated with better engine development in children, especially in gross motor skills at the age of 5 to 6. A similar association was found between the consumption of maternal fish and the fine and raw motor skills of the child.

A healthy food Includes versatile foods, such as vegetables, fruits, rye bread and fish, which provide vitamins and minerals that are important for the development of a child. Fish is also an important source of unsaturated fats, in particular omega-3 fatty acidswhich are necessary for the development of the fetal brain.

“It is likely that the targeting of prenatal nutritional advice to mothers who are overweight or obesity before pregnancy would benefit mothers themselves, for example, braking excessive weight gain during pregnancy, while supporting the future engine development of their children”, explains Professor Kirsi Laitinen, who leads the early nutrition group and health of health Turku.