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Eating for two - or three - increases the chances of having a heavy baby at risk of becoming obese, research suggests. Women who pile on the pounds when pregnant may be creating conditions in their womb that programme their future child for a lifetime's struggle with weight, scientists believe.

And they will not be able to blame their genes, according to the research reported online in The Lancet medical journal.

Weight gain during pregnancy appears on its own to be responsible for high birthweight, the findings show.

Heavy infants are known to be predisposed to obesity in later life. They may also have an increased risk of asthma and cancer.

Previous studies have demonstrated that mothers-to-be who gain a lot of weight during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to an overweight baby.

But it was not known to what extent this association could be explained by genetics and other factors besides weight gain itself.

The new research suggests that simply eating too much when pregnant, and gaining weight as a result, may be enough to put your baby at risk.

"These findings have important implications to general public health," said Dr David Ludwig, one of the US authors. These findings have important implications to general public health," said Dr David Ludwig, one of the US authors. It's appropriate for a baby to be born with some fat, but a baby born too fat indicates that the foetus developed in an abnormal environment during the most critical nine months of life."