Smelling this while pregnant increases the risk of obesity in children
Dec 03, 2025
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A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Germany published the results of the study in the international journal 'Nature'.
The research team reinforced the 'fat smell' by adding bacon scent while providing a low-fat healthy diet to pregnant mice.
Results showed that there was no change in the metabolism of the mother mice, but the baby mice were more susceptible to insulin resistance, a precursor symptom of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The research team explained that the result is that the exposure of the fetus to the smell of greasy food in the uterus and breastfeeding can cause obesity in the future. In addition, these exposures affected the brain as well as the physical health of baby mice. The nerve cells that control hunger and metabolism, and the dopamine system responsible for compensation and motivation changed, and the brains of newborn mice showed similar appearance to those of obese mice.
Head of Research Dr Sophie Steculorum "Until now, we have only noticed that pregnant women are negatively affected by weight gain if they eat a high fat diet"However, this study shows that the smell of exposure to fetuses and newborns can affect future health.'
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
