UASLP researchers study link between pregnancy conditions and childhood obesity

Researchers at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (UASLP) are investigating the relationship between maternal conditions during pregnancy and the risk of childhood obesity. Led by Dr. Mariana Salgado Bustamante, the study focuses on fetal metabolic programming to understand how intrauterine development influences a person's susceptibility to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases throughout their life.

The research suggests that the recent rise in overweight and obesity rates is not solely due to dietary changes over the last few decades. Instead, biological conditions established during gestation may modify how new generations respond to food stimuli. The study involves human subjects, collaborating with the Gynecology, Obstetrics, and Neonatology services of the Central Hospital to monitor pregnant women of various weights and follow their newborns to identify metabolic molecular markers.