Infants who are born by Caesarian section and thus aren’t exposed to the process of natural labor may be predisposed towards obesity as they generally have higher levels of fats in their liver at birth.
Researchers at Imperial College London in the U.K. looked at scans from 62 babies soon after birth, and found that those who had been born by C-section had a higher level of fat in their liver when compared to the infants that had been born naturally.
"We have preliminary data which suggests that key processes within the liver and with the handling of fats is distorted if you are a baby that has not been exposed to a normal labour," explained researcher Neena Modi to the Times.
"We are pursuing the hypothesis that if you are not exposed to normal labour then your normal metabolic development is distorted."
The study authors now plan to do further trials to test the hypothesis that Caesarian birth does not trigger the release of hormones necessary to control metabolism in later life.
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