United States: A study released recently suggests that mothers’ health issues during pregnancy can raise children’s chances of developing high blood pressure.
Maternal Health During Pregnancy Influences Childhood Blood Pressure
Researchers reported in JAMA Network Open on May 8 that having mothers with obesity, gestational diabetes, or high blood pressure during pregnancy increases children’s likelihood of having higher blood pressure, as reported by HealthDay.
Presence of only one of these maternal health risks elevates the risk of quicker blood pressure increases from age 2 to 18, the researchers said.
“Finding factors that we can address during pregnancy and childhood — and implementing early interventions — may be key to changing the trajectories of health for future generations,” senior researcher Shohreh Farzan, an associate professor of population and public health sciences at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, said in a news release.
