New research from the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health suggests infants born via cesarean section may be twice as likely to become obese as children. The study was published this week in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
The research team recruited 1,255 pairs of mothers, all of whom were less than 22 months pregnant. The study checked in on the children until after their third birthday at which time about 16 percent of the children born via C-section had become obese.
"One in three children in the U.S. is now delivered by cesarean section," lead researcher Susanna Y. Huh told WebMD. "If surgical delivery is a risk factor for child obesity, this would be yet another reason to avoid cesarean sections that are not medically necessary."
This trend could be caused by a change in the infant's digestive system during birth, which later effects their ability to break down food. New York doctor Mitchell Maiman said the C-section trend could be dangerous.
"Nobody really believes that a 40% C-section rate is ideal, but it is happening anyway," he said. "We believe that mothers who choose to have cesarean sections without a medical reason to do so should be made aware that their child might have a higher risk for obesity."
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