From the moment I planned my pregnancy I knew that optimising my diet was going to be a high priority. From the off I followed all the rules; 9 months with not a scrap of chorizo, nor a sliver of gravadlax, not whiff of brie nor a juicy pink steak; no mean feat for a die-hard foodie such as myself. Coming up with a plausible excuse as to why I suddenly refused to taste the mayonnaises, crème brulees and ice cream mixes I made proved a challenge and offered the first clue to my employers of my impending announcement. These guidelines of course are in place to reduce the chances of salmonella, listeria and other potentially dangerous infections. I wanted to go further than that. I was growing a new human being. You wouldn’t plant a rose in unfertilised acidic soil and expect it to grow healthy and strong, so why would you do the same with your baby.
I researched obsessively ensuring every meal was packed with the ideal nutrients for the stage of development. Folic acid and iron rich in the first trimester, beta-carotene packed in the second. Omega 3 for the babies brain development, calcium and vitamin D for the bones. We ate a lot of watercress! Avocados, Brazil nuts and leafy greens also featured highly on the list, with oily fish twice a week but no more (because of the mercury risk). I was fortunate enough not to have suffered with morning sickness or any bizarre cravings and so following a healthy diet was a pleasure, not a chore.
I cannot claim to have been above reproach. My troublesome sweet tooth did not desert me; when the biscuit tin came round, far be it from me to shake my head and let it pass by; when the dessert menu was offered and my tummy already bulged from two courses prior, my “I’ll just take a look” inevitably turned into a “go on then”. For the most part though I took my diet very seriously. It seems however that my efforts should have begun earlier still in my son’s journey.
Recent studies have revealed the lasting impact of a mother’s diet at the time of conception on the long term health of her child. The most recent research, on a group of women in The Gambia who conceived in the dry season and a comparable group who conceived at the peak of the wet season, revealed significant differences in the DNA of their offspring. Though it’s too early to say the specific effect of these changes, further figures collected in the same region since the 1940s show considerable variations in life expectancy depending on birth date. In fact, those conceived during the height of the dry season are seven times more likely to die in any given year than their peers. The difference it seems is in the amount of green leafy vegetables consumed. It’s believed our diet in the very first days of pregnancy can actually “switch on” or “switch off” specific genes in the growing embryo.
A second, much earlier study, suggests that the effects of poor maternal diet may still be seen not one but two generations down the line. The Dutch Famine Study found that those born during the blockades of Germany on the Netherlands during WW2 and the subsequent period of famine, were twice as likely to develop heart disease than their peace-time peers, as well as a whole host of other life-limiting diseases. Even the health of future grandchildren was impacted.
Research in mice further support these findings. In one investigation, young born to mothers consuming an appropriate diet lived twice as long as those whose mothers consumed a diet high in fats and sugars, with less chance of becoming obese or developing Type 2 diabetes. A study in rats found that the offspring of those who ate a healthy diet were more likely to make healthy food choices themselves. Those born to mothers who gorged on junk food often opted for these same food stuffs.
Few of us would see fit to regularly offer our babies junk food yet our actions in their earliest days may be causing the same lifelong damage. Government figures reveal that in 2013/14 1/5 of 5 year olds were overweight or obese; by age 11 this figure had swollen to 1 in 3. Whilst the highly processed diets we are feeding our children are undoubtedly a cause for serious concern, it is becoming apparent that we may be programming our children for this fate before their lives have even begun.
Walk down the refrigerated section of any supermarket and you are confronted by row upon row of man’s invention, bundles of artificial ingredients bound together by chemical means, then wrapped in a contorted mess of plastic and polystyrene. On a daily basis we stuff our faces with these abominations, starving our bodies of the nutrition they are crying out for. Our food culture needs a wholesale rethink, a return to the ingredients of the earth, to the diet of the “wet season” if we are to avoid creating a death trap for the future generation before we even know it.
Alison Smith @chefalismith
