My mother ate well

According to Sharon Begley's column in today's Wall Street Journal (May 13, 2005) "if you are undernourished as a first trimester fetus, you won't pad your hips and thighs with enough fat tissue." Then as an adult, all the extra calories go to your waist (apple shaped as opposed to pear shaped). This makes you more susceptible to heart diseases, diabetes, and breast cancer.

Unfortunately, she doesn't cite sources, although she collects some interesting items, even what your grandmother ate affects your health! Even a smoking grandmother is a smoking gun. So I did a look through Google and did find an interesting, fairly recent book that may be available in your public library, called Prenatal Prescription:

"Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on treatments for diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, and some forms of depression--all conditions Peter Nathanielsz argues could be prevented with better maternal health, especially during pregnancy. In The Prenatal Prescription, a guide for expectant parents, the former obstetrician explains how fetal biology adapts to the environment in the womb in preparation for the challenges of life after birth, a concept he calls prenatal programming. "If you're a lion cub on the Serengeti Plain and you're short of food in the uterus, that's a pretty darn good indication that there's not much food outside," says Nathanielsz. "Your mother's not making enough kills, so you develop what's called a thrifty metabolism in the womb. You learn how to grab on to every calorie you can so that when you come out, you're going to survive this adverse environment outside."

My mom must have eaten well because since puberty, I've been pear shaped. All extra calories reside on my hips and thighs. Thanks Mom.