C-section babies at higher risk of obesity

BABIES delivered by caesarean are at a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese because they are not exposed to protective bacteria in the mother's vagina, international research has found.The research, conducted by the Finnish paediatrician Erika Isolauri and to be presented in Sydney tomorrow, shows that exposure to bacteria in a vaginal delivery can help a child maintain a healthy weight later in life.

About 30 per cent of NSW babies are delivered by caesarean, a figure the government seeks to reduce to 20 per cent by 2015. About one in four children in the state are either overweight or obese.Professor Isolauri, of the University of Turku in Finland, found that children with lower levels of ''good'' gut bacteria were more likely to be obese. "The good bacteria that babies pick up during the natural birth process play an important role in reducing an infant's risk of becoming overweight or obese in their early years of life,'' she said.

''With obesity set to be one of the greatest health challenges of the next decade, we need to be giving our children the best start possible to maintain a healthy weight."

Parents of surgically delivered babies can lower the risk of their child becoming obese with breastfeeding and maintaining a healthy diet once the child starts solids.

"Following a vaginal or caesarean birth, breastfeeding is the best way to provide infants with these beneficial bacteria, known as probiotics," Professor Isolauri said.

"There are also clear benefits in acquiring these probiotics after childbirth, with breast-fed infants up to 22 per cent less likely to be overweight or obese in childhood."

The findings are based on more than a decade of research involving hundreds of participants.
A microbiologist and immunologist from the University of NSW, Patricia Conway, believes they have merit, although more research needs to be done. ''Children who are obese have lower levels of the beneficial bacteria and caesarean-delivered babies have less exposure to that bacteria than vaginally delivered babies,'' she said.

''Therefore you can say that a caesarean delivery will put your child at some risk of obesity.'' But she said the findings should not alarm parents of babies delivered by caesarean.
''A lot of mothers have to have caesareans for medical reasons - they don't have a choice,'' she said. ''You don't want to scare them by saying their child is doomed for life to become a little roly-poly. But by understanding the potential risks we are then able to make recommendations of how to reduce that risk.''