A new study has revealed that children of mothers who are undernourished during pregnancy may have prematurely ageing hearts.
Testing the theory on baboons, scientists found that the young of those who had a restricted diets were seen to have reduced heart functions.
The results showed that children born to malnourished mothers would already be struggling with heart issues at the age of just 20 years old.
“Women’s health during pregnancy is of fundamental importance to the lifetime health of their babies,” said Dr Peter Nathanielsz, co-leader of the study and director of the Wyoming Pregnancy and Life Course Health Centre at the University of Wyoming in the US.
"Society must pay attention to improving women's nutrition before and during pregnancy to prevent these adverse outcomes in babies."
