“重量级”科学研究：肥胖乃是命中注定

If you can’t shift those extra pounds, no matter how hard you try, blame your mother. Research suggests we can be programmed to be fat while still in the womb, with a mother-to-be’s lifestyle affecting the health of her baby for years to come。

如果你再怎么努力也减不掉身上那些赘肉，有可能是你老妈的错哦！研究表明，准妈妈的生活习惯会影响婴儿日后的健康。所以，有些人还未出生就注定是个胖子。

It is thought that her diet, the amount she exercises, whether she smokes or drinks alcohol and even which pollutants she is exposed to can alter the DNA of her unborn child. The changes are not to the letters of the code of life itself, but to its ‘punctuation’. These chemical marks can activate, silence or crank up genes and their actions。

据研究，准妈妈饮食习惯、运动量、酗酒抽烟与否，乃至接触过的污染性物质，都可能影响胎儿的DNA。当然，DNA的序列不会改变，只是给孩子的DNA留下印记。这些化学印记可激活、消除或加剧基因活动。

The latest evidence for the theory, which is known as epigenetics, comes from researchers at Newcastle University who analyzed the genes of children aged between nine and 11.

以上研究证据来源自纽卡斯尔大学研究人员提出的“表观遗传学”，他们研究过9-11周岁小孩的基因组织。

They specifically looked for genes that had the same letters but behaved differently in children who were overweight and those who were slim. Blood samples stored since the children’s births were then analyzed. This step showed that in many cases, youngsters who were overweight had displayed different chemical marks on their DNA at birth。

有些小孩偏胖或偏瘦，但基因序列相同。他们对此做了专门研究。小孩一出生他们就抽取血样，并以此作为研究的基础。实验显示，很多后来变胖的小孩，其实刚出生时的基因组印记就已经不同了。

Dr Caroline Relton, who led the research, said: ‘This suggests that our DNA could be marked before birth and these marks could predict our later body composition.’ Dr Relton, whose findings are detailed in the journal PLoS Medicine, does not know why some DNA is marked in the womb。

负责这项研究的卡洛琳·雷尔顿博士说：“实验表明，DNA在子宫里就有所改变了。而这些变化能预测人们日后的体型。” 雷尔顿博士的研究成果已经发表在了PLoS Medicine杂志上。不过，她坦言自己也不清楚为何DNA在子宫里就能发生改变。

But previous research suggests it is largely to do with the mother’s lifestyle. However, Dr Relton added: ‘These marks are open to change. I think this puts the onus on the individual to do something about the way their genes work.’

在此之前，研究认为，这与准妈妈的生活习惯有大有关联。但雷尔顿博士也说：“基因组印记的变化是持续的。出生以后的改变，确实跟个人的生活习惯有关。”