Sydney (dpa) - Women who eat too much during pregnancy may be putting their children at risk of getting diabetes and developing heart disease in later life, a study in Australia suggests.

Research on pigs at Adelaide University has bolstered the theory that patterns of cardiovascular disease and diabetes are set before birth.

Gynaecologist Phil Owens maintains that the amount eaten by mothers at crucial stages of pregnancy determines the ability of their offspring to produce leptin.

Leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and fat, is secreted by fat cells into the blood and acts on the brain to control appetite and energy expenditure. Those who are obese or diabetic tend to have high levels of leptin.

The Adelaide study showed that piglets whose mothers were fed more during pregnancy were about the same size at birth as those born to mothers on a regular diet, but by four weeks of age had grown much bigger and at ten weeks had significantly higher levels of leptin in their blood and a greater capacity to make leptin in their fat cells.

"It looks like maternal nutrition and metabolism at the end of the first and beginning of the second trimester is a critical period for the foetus," Owens said.

The study, presented at the 11th International Congress of Endocrinology in Sydney, is to be followed up with research into what pregnant women eat and how this affects the physical development of children fare up to the age of 10.

(From Sohu)