Born to be tired ...

By ANGELA GREGORY

Couch potatoes may have been set up for a life of slacking and snacking in front of television because they were undernourished in their mothers' wombs.

Researchers at the Liggins Institute, in Auckland, believe the "couch potato" syndrome is prompted before birth as foetuses adjust to limited nutrition from the mother.

The problem is then later exacerbated by a Western diet.

In its publication Dialogue, the Auckland University research institute reports its scientists have found under-nutrition in the womb results in offspring that are more sedentary in adult life.

The team, including Liggins research fellow Dr Mark Vickers, had shown undernourishment in the womb resulted in resistance to a hormone called leptin which played a major role in regulating appetite.

Dr Vickers said it seemed the foetus permanently adapted to limited nutrient availability to ensure its survival.

That could cause insensitivity to leptin and insulin which predisposed the adult to sedentary behaviour, overeating, and obesity.

An increasingly sedentary lifestyle is estimated to account for 8 per cent of deaths in New Zealand.

nzherald.co.nz/health