Curse you, forceps, curse you!

This one was just too good to pass up

Researchers in Brazil claim they have found a connection between birth by Caesarean Section and childhood obesity. They claim lack of exposure to bacteria that inhabit the birth canal (sorry to those eating breakfast!) affects immune system development in children, which can contribute to childhood obesity, alongside other factors, like say, eating too much, and not exercising, maybe.

Apparently, Brazilians’ interest was especially piqued by this idea as over half of their offspring are born by C-section. The long term study found those born by C-section were more likely to be heavy, with obesity rates between nine and 16%, compared to rates of seven to 10% of children born vaginally.

Except an American response study has found the Brazilian researchers failed to take a variety of co-founding factors into account, such as family income, birth weight, schooling and the mother’s weight, height, age and smoking habits. With these (kind of obvious indicators) absent, the correlation of birth method to likelihood of obesity vanishes. Brazilian science FAIL.

“The really simple explanation would be that more obese women require more Cesarean sections than lean women… and it’s really not the C-section itself,” said a medical commentator to the American response study.

Research into the hypothesis continues on both ends of the American continent.

[Source: TIMES Live]