A new study has found that the diet of mothers at the time that they conceive their babies has a lasting influence on the child's DNA.
In the study, conducted on 84 women in rural Gambia, scientists compared the dietary differences of women who became pregnant during the dry and rainy seasons and examined the DNA of both the mothers and the babies. They found that mothers who ate more leafy greans (containing folate) and other important nutrients when they were in season and at the time of conception had an effect on the way the babies' genes were expressed.
Senior study author Branwen Hennig, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, explained: "Our results represent the first demonstration in humans that a mother's nutritional well-being at the time of conception can change how her child's genes will be interpreted, with a lifelong impact."
The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.
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