Maternal 'junk food' diet

This research​ demonstrated that consumption of a junk-food filled diet during pregnancy might have drastic affects the development of brain pathways in developing babies, and may permanently alter responses to foods that are high in fat and sugar in your child.

The animal research, which was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), suggests that consumption of unhealthy 'junk foods' during pregnancy alters the development of opiod pathways in offspring - leading to permanently modified brain signalling in response to foods that are high in sugar and fat.

"The results of this study will eventually permit us to better inform pregnant women about the enduring effect their diet has on the development of their child's lifelong food preferences and risk of negative metabolic outcomes,"​ said Jessica Gugusheff from the FoodPlus research centre at the University of Adelaide – who led the research.