WARNING: C-section deliveries may up obesity, diabetes risk in babies!

(Representational image)

New Delhi: Caesarean section deliveries have become more popular throughout the world and unfortunately, have begun to be seen as a convenience rather than an emergency surgical procedure.

A caesarean section, also known as c-section, is the delivery of a baby through a surgical incision in the mother's abdomen and uterus. It is often performed when a vaginal birth would put the baby or mother at risk.

Despite the risks, many women are opting for C-section deliveries nowadays, simply because they want to avoid labour pain or coincide with certain events, even though there are no complications with their pregnancies.

Little do these women know, they are putting their babies at risk of obesity and diabetes later in life.

According to a report in the Deccan Chronicle, a study has shown that babies who are delivered just two weeks early are more likely to develop diabetes and become obese as they grew up.

This also means that the conditions put them at greater risk of premature death due to the conditions they acquire.

In a warning, scientists have advised against elective caesarean sections being carried out too soon, saying that they may be endangering children

The study, published in American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, further goes on to say that babies born via C-section are at an increased risk of numerous problems related to metabolism and hormones as well as the endocrine system, which could result in diabetes and a host of other illnesses.

Professor Eyal Sheiner of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel who conducted the study said that hospitalisations up to the age of 18 involving endocrine and metabolic morbidity were found to be more common in the early term group as compared with the full term group, especially at ages five and older,the Deccan Chronicle reported.

Her researchers also discovered children older than five had much higher rates of Type-1 diabetes when born early. This is the form that develops in childhood and is not linked to lifestyle factors.