A new study revealed that the mother’s genes could play a greater role than the games of the father in determining whether the child would suffer from weight gain, thanks to a phenomenon known as “genetic care”. Genetic care is a concept that arises in genetics and behavior, which indicates the indirect influence of parents’ genes on the health and behavior of their children, not by the genes that the child inherits, but by the environment made by parents as a result of their genes. For example, one of the parents can have genes that affect the level of his education, lifestyle or nutritional habits, and these genes – even if they are not directly inherited to the child – contribute to the formation of a specific environment in which it arises, and thus affects its physical or spiritual development, which is sometimes known as ‘genetics in the environment’ or ‘genetic care’. This concept reveals that the genetic effect goes beyond the boundaries of the transmitted DNA, to include ‘how to let the genes of the family in the form of education and living conditions. According to researchers, the influence of the mother on her child’s weight is not only limited to the genes she inherits for him, but also extends to the environment she creates around him – from the diet to the methods of education – an environment affected by the role in the genes of the mother himself. Mothers Genes with a double effect, directly and indirectly, on the weight of their children, indicating that the importance of the environment made by the mother of her child, the lead author of the study “Liam Wright”, a researcher at the Institute for Social Research at University of College London, the study published by researchers of the University of “College London”, published for 2621 for 2621. British families participating in the “Millennium Cohort” study following individuals born between 2001 and 2002. The researchers monitored the effect of the parents’ BMI on the weight of children and their diet in six different ages: (3, 5, 7, 11, 14 and 17 years). The diet for children was also evaluated by their own reports on repetition and quantities of their eating groups such as fruits, vegetables, fast food and sugar -like drinks. Direct genetic heredity and the study were not satisfied with the comparison of the inherited genetic features, but rather used an accurate approach to separate the effects of the genes inherited from those who are not inherited but indirectly affect the environment in which the child grows. The researchers found that the effects of the father’s genes on the child’s weight can be declared almost fully declared by direct genetic heredity, while the mother’s genes, even after excluding the direct genetic effect, has a clear impact on the child’s weight, which indicates that the mother through her genetic traits creates an environment that affects the health of the child, whether it affects it through the nutrition or daily life. In 2024, the number of children under the age of five reached 35 million with weight gain, while data in 2022 showed that more than 390 million children between the ages of 5 and 19 years include weight gain, including 160 million obesity. The World Health Organization defines weight gain in children under the age of five as a condition in which the child’s weight is over length as two standard deviations above the average growth stations, while obesity is known when this weight exceeds 3 normative deviations. For older children, aged 5 to 19, the child is a plus weight if it is suitable for his body mass according to the age of one standard deviation of reference average of growth, while obesity is if this indicator exceeds two standard deviations, according to the maps and references approved by the World Health Organization. The reference average of growth is a standard developed by the World Health Organization to compare the growth of children and judge their health. Here are the basic points: depends on international data: It has been developed using data from healthy children in perfect environments in terms of nutrition and health care. It contains multiple indicators such as: height for age, weight in proportion to length, and body mass characteristics (BMI), depending on age. It is used to determine cases: weight loss: when weight is lower than normative -2. Weight gain: If it is above +1 standard deviation. Obesity: Above +2 or +3 depending on the age group. Divide into two categories: Children under the age of five (0-5 years). Children and teens aged 5 to 19. It helps to discover early growth problems: such as malnutrition, obesity or delay in growth. Used worldwide: as a united reference to assessing the health of children in different countries, regardless of the ethnic or social background. “The genes of mothers with a double effect, directly and indirectly, seem to the weight of their children, which indicates the importance of the environment the mother made for her child, which in turn is formed from her genetic background,” said the lead author of the study, Liam Wright, a researcher at the Institute for Social Research at the University of London. “It is not a matter of debt for mothers, but rather by providing adequate support to families to provide a healthy environment that guarantees children a better future,” Wright added. The research team was eager to overcome the well -known limitations of the body mass index, especially in children, as they attached their results to additional fatty measurements. The researchers recommended that health interventions aimed at lowering the mother’s body mass index, especially during pregnancy, could be an effective strategy to reduce obesity transfer over generations.
Study: Obesity can be transmitted genetically, but mother genes have a greater effect on the weight of the child
