Washington, May 26 (IANS) A high-fat diet during pregnancy may programme a woman's baby for future diabetes, even if she herself is not obese or diabetic.

"We found that exposure to a high-fat diet before birth modifies gene expression in the livers of offspring so they are more likely to overproduce glucose, which can cause early insulin resistance and diabetes," said Yuan-Xiang Pan, a University of Illinois professor of nutrition.

The high-fat diet that caused these changes was a typical Western diet that contained 45 percent fat, which is not at all unusual, said Pan, who led the study, the Journal of Physiology reports.

"In recent years, the American diet has shifted to include many high-energy, high-fat, cafeteria-type, and fast foods," he noted, according to an Illinois statement.

Pan hopes that the study will give doctors a diagnostic tool to screen newborns born with this propensity so they can help children keep their blood sugar in a normal range and give them their best chance of avoiding diabetes.