A research team from Adelaide have found that female children born to mothers who were obese suffered with irregular menstrual cycle (periods).

They interviewed 544 women aged between 30-32 years. They asked about their medical history and their birth weight as well as the weight of their mother prior to their birth. The women were found to have been large babies and their mothers obese whilst pregnant. The women also reported other symptoms that were indicative of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Dr. Davies felt that there were two factors to be considered. The first is that of the high weight in later pregnancy, which linked to irregular periods in the female child and weight issues. The other was that of reduced placental and foetal growth which have been linked to PCOS. A baby that has been affected by reduced growth will have problems with insulin metabolism in later life due to an underlying metabolic rate. This problem is associated with PCOS.