Vulnerability to alcohol and drug abuse may begin in the womb

Business Standard, August 4, 2013

"A new study has revealed that a mum's high-fat, sugary diets may lead to birth of an offspring with a taste for alcohol and sensitivity to drugs.
According to findings from animal lab experiments presented at APA's 121st Annual Convention, vulnerability to alcohol and drug abuse may begin in the womb and be linked to how much fatty and sugary foods a mother eats during pregnancy.
'The majority of women in the U.S. at child-bearing age are overweight, and this is most likely due to overeating the tasty, high-fat, high-sugar foods you find everywhere in our society. The rise in prenatal and childhood obesity and the rise in number of youths abusing alcohol and drugs merits looking into all the possible roots of these growing problems,' Nicole Avena, PhD, a research neuroscientist with the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute, said." Read More