title: eight ways to strengthen our democracy beyond voting
text: babies of obese mothers at high risk of brain damage stroke heart attack and asthma 
    daniel barker tags parental obesity  children  health risks naturalnews the growing number of babies born to obese mothers throughout the world face a higher risk of developing serious health problems in adulthood according to several recent studies children of obese mothers are prone to brain damage heart disease stroke and asthma in adulthood warn health expertsobese parents pass on the tendency towards obesity to their children creating a vicious cycle that warrants urgent action on the part of health officials said the researchers of the new studiesthe list of health risks is surprisingly long including diseases like cancer and conditions such as adhd and autism from the guardian four studies published in the lancet diabetes and endocrinology make clear that the risks of maternal obesity include stillbirth dangerously high blood pressure in pregnant women diabetes in the mother or child and complications during childbirththe scale of obesity in women of childbearing age and the consequent dangers to health were so great that urgent action was needed to ensure women were a normal weight before they conceived the authors saymothers being very heavily overweight could lead to their children having autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or developing cancer in later life the researchers saybetween  and  in the united states  nearly a third of women at peak childbearing age  to  were obese and  percent of american mothers were either overweight or obese at the time they conceivedin britain where obesity rates among women are the highest in europe  percent of mothers were already obese when they became pregnant in   percent of women in england between the ages of  and  were obese as were  percent of  to yearolds global obesity has reached pandemic proportions obesity has reached pandemic proportions globally and its origins start in the womb said professor lesley regan the president of the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologistsregan pointed to the fact that more than  percent of men and women in the uk are obese and that the one in five pregnant women who are obese face an increased risk of miscarriage stillbirth and neonatal death as well as gestational diabetes blood clots preeclampsia more complicated labours and severe bleeding after the birththe researchers involved in the studies are concerned that the global obesity problem will only worsen particularly in the developing world it is estimated that more than  percent of women throughout the world will be dangerously overweight by one research paper warned of longterm profound public health implications while another called for governments to begin treating obesity as a global public health prioritythere is increasing evidence indicating that obesity during pregnancy can lead to a child being predisposed not only to developing diseases like type  diabetes and asthma but also neurodevelopmental disorders like cerebral palsythe complex interaction of neuroendocrine metabolic immune and inflammatory factors in obese women are believed to affect hormonal exposure and nutrient supply to fetuses leading to possible brain damage in unborn children searching for solutions in a world dominated by fast food and sedentary lifestyles the experts all agree that something should be done but there are no simple solutions increased education and guidance may be part of the answer but a number of aspects of modern daytoday life are increasing the tendency towards becoming obeseamong these are an increasingly commercialised food supply ie junk food reliance on cars and public transport dangerous and overpopulated urban environments and the tendency to sit in front of tv and computer screens for unhealthy periods of timeultimately it is the responsibility of parents to lose weight before giving birth to children and to set a healthy example for children as they grow and develop but in a world of fast food and smartphones this may not prove to be so easily accomplished sources