羊水中嬰兒身體指標決定日後發展

You have encouraged them to eat their greens, battled to get them into the best school and sweated with them over their homework.– all to give them the best start in life. But your children’s prospects may have been determined long before all the hard work. A growing body of research suggests the first 1,000 days of a child’s life – the nine months in the womb and the first two years out of it – are vital to their long-term health.

也許你還在努力賺錢爲了自己的孩子能進名校能努力、也許你犧牲了你玩遊戲網購的時間來陪兒子女兒做功課、也許你花了大價錢請名師來輔導女兒鋼琴，爲了是能培養一名琴棋書畫的人才。可是，最新的研究結果顯示，孩子的前途有可能在母親肚子的 9個月內就已經是註定了的，據悉，嬰兒在母親體內形成的最初1000天對孩子日後身體健康發展有着至關重要的影響。

That period can permanently affect everything from a child’s chances of developing diabetes or having a heart attack in old age, to their future weight and life expectancy. The theory was developed after decades of research by Professor David Barker and his colleagues at Southampton University. They believe there are a series of critical stages in a child’s development. If conditions are not perfect at each step, problems can occur later.

可是究竟在母親子宮內發生了什麼事情呢？都說10月懷胎，在嬰兒胎體形成的最初9個月到底給於嬰兒日後什麼重要的影響呢？研究者說，這9個月決定了孩子在他們在“中年危機”40歲到50歲時不容易患上糖尿病、或者患上心臟病的概率。人們先前專注於嬰兒出生後的早期教育，而研究者認爲早期教育的時間可以再往前推，推到母親的子宮中。據悉，這項研究是由來自英國南安普頓大學的教授大衛·巴克以及他的研究團隊歷經10年而得出的結論。

Many of these danger points lie when the baby is still in the womb. Poor nutrition for a mother affects both the unborn baby’s weight and how well the placenta works, while smoking, stress, drugs and alcohol can also take their toll.　　儘管研究團隊認爲在子宮中嬰兒的成長健康程度與日後患糖尿病以及心臟病有關係，但是他們還是撇清了大腦、谷歌甚至免疫系統類似疾病與母親子宮內嬰兒之間的關係，他們認爲這些疾病在嬰兒1歲之後，也就是第二個生日開始的時候才逐漸形成。

It is thought that when food is scarce in the womb, it is channelled to the fledgling brain, leaving the heart weakened. The seeds of diabetes may also be sown before birth, as the pancreatic cells which make insulin develop in the womb. Conditions in the uterus can also affect weight for years to come, studies suggest.

有人總結，嬰兒在子宮中食物的缺乏可以導致許多疾病，甚至心臟方面的不健康。但是母親爲了孩子吃得多、吃高蛋白的東西也不能保證嬰兒健康，有太多的嬰兒在剛降生時就被檢測出膽固醇過高。所有的這些實驗都是對那些每日爲想法設法爲自己的孩子創造良好生存環境的父母們而設計的，提醒他們，在孕育孩子的時候，就要給孩子最好的照顧。

Professor Barker said many of these early effects are ‘set in stone’ and cannot be undone. He added that the key to health is ensuring women eat well throughout their lives. He said: ‘It is about building a body that the baby can live off. The baby lives off the mother’s body – not what she snacks on during pregnancy.‘What we are seeing is a window of opportunity where we can make better people.

教授巴克 認爲許多健康方面的疾病可以追溯到嬰兒尚且還在胚胎時的狀態，比如由於嬰兒在子宮中的發育緩慢而最終行程。他舉例，比如早產的嬰兒在日後患上心臟病的機率就會高得多。平均來說，體重爲5.5磅的嬰兒相比在9.5磅的嬰兒，在日後更患上心臟病要高得多。