Can Weight Loss Surgery Break Family Cycle?

Marijke Durning, RN — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:59:52 +0000

It’s not unusual to see that at least one parent of an obese child is obese as well. While some of this may be environmental (diet and lifestyle), research is pointing to genetic and intra-uterine (during pregnancy) factors as well.

An interesting study undertaken by American and Canadian researchers, and will be published in the next issue of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), has found that children of women who were conceived after their mother had weight loss surgery had a lower incidence of obesity than siblings who were born before she had the surgery.

The researchers looked at 49 women who had a surgery called biliopancreatic diversion, or BPD before between pregnancies. This surgery makes it so the woman’s stomach is smaller and any food that she consumes is redirected past a part of the small intestine, where much of the calorie absorption occurs.

What the researchers found was that not only were the children who were conceived after the surgery smaller than their older siblings, and they were three times less likely to become obese, their heart health was better.

This type of finding may not translate to other types of gastric weight loss surgery and this is the first report of these findings as well, so more research must be done. But these results do point in a good direction for women who want to lose weight and would like to reduce their child’s risks as well.