Berlin, A new study has claimed that including a special diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as fish oils in your daily routine oils during pregnancy may not protect the child from becoming overweight or obese.

As per the researchers, almost one in three school children under the age of ten is overweight, if not obese, in Europe.

In the search for the cause of this phenomenon, foetal programming inside a mothers womb was put under scrutiny.

The study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany, aould not be confirmed that the hypothesis that the mothers diet might have some sort of influence.

It was believed that bad fats, especially omega-6 fatty acids, consumed during pregnancy increased the formation of infantile fat cells, while good omega-3 fatty acids protected the child against becoming overweight.

"We then examined the children using three different methods: firstly we measured their skin fold thickness, then ultrasound investigations were added as these are more accurate," said Hans Hauner from TUM.

He added, "In one part of the cohort we also used MRS imaging to measure the fat inside the abdominal cavity".

The end result was negative.

"This special diet had no effect on the weight of the babies and toddlers," said Hauner.