A study presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction conference in Geneva showed that children born through in-vitro fertilisation were more inclined to obesity. Among the 136 children born through IVF and examined in the Netherlands, nine year-olds of average height weighed approximately 680 grams more than their naturally conceived peers of the same age and height.
Scientist Dr. Helen Zandstra from Maastricht University in the Netherlands explained as follows: “This is a sufficiently significant weight difference to trigger interest because overweight children will become overweight adults. We believe that children born through IVF could be predisposed to cardiovascular problems including heart problems in later life”.
Altering cell behaviour during the first few days of life, the hormones prescribed for women in order to harvest their eggs as part of an IVF procedure, could trigger obesity in their child.
Daily Mail, Victoria Allen (04/07/2017)