Obesity during pregnancy may contribute to teen asthma

Overweight or obese pregnant women are increasing their children’s risk of developing asthma symptoms when they hit the teen years.

Research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health looked for links between the 37 per cent rise in teenagers with asthma symptoms since the 1970s and found it could correspond to the number of overweight women giving birth.

A research team from Imperial College London, looked at the data of children born in northern Finland between July 1985 and June 1986.

Teenagers whose mothers had been very overweight or obese directly before pregnancy were 20 per cent more likely to wheeze.

The researchers suggest that being overweight during pregnancy interferes with normal fetal development.