Moms' Junk Food Habits May Alter Kids' Brains

Pregnant or breast-feeding women may inadvertently pass poor eating habits along to their children, a new study reports.

An experiment conducted in rats shows that females eating diets dense with fats and sugars while pregnant or lactating ended up with offspring with similar food preferences. Given the biological similarities between humans and other mammals, scientists suspect this might be true for us as well.

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Featured in The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal, the research bases its findings on the notion that mom's diet can alter the neurological reward pathways in baby's brain.

Essentially, these eating habits alter how babies approach eating in early -- and perhaps later -- stages of life.

In the experiment, one group of pregnant and lactating rats consumed nutritious rat chow, while another group ate certain human foods high in fat and sugar.

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When the rats' offspring were six weeks and three months of age, scientists gave them the choice of eating regular food (the chow) or the same "junk food" certain mothers ate.

Rat pups whose mothers binged on fatty and sugary foods were more likely to prefer similar foods when compared to rats born from mothers with regular diets.

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To measure any physiological differences, researchers euthanized certain individuals from each group to study their brain tissues. The research team discovered changes in mu opioid receptors and dopamine transporters of the brain -- areas important to reward pathways.

These are the same areas "feel-good" chemicals such as dopamine maneuver through.

This isn't to say all junk food should be forbidden from pregnant women or those who are breast-feeding, but it certainly supports the idea of moderation.

The research fits into the larger context of prenatal care, supporting women eating healthily and taking specific vitamin supplements to promote normal fetal development, according to the Mayo Clinic.