A mother’s consumption of fats during pregnancy may affect their child's future health outlook, according to University of Sydney researchers.

A higher fat diet was associated with epigenetic age acceleration among the infants, a process associated with an increased risk of disease.

A small study by University of Sydney researchers has found a possible link between fats consumed by mothers during pregnancy and the future health of their infant. The fats studied included 'good' fats from avocado. Credit:Getty Images

Researcher Michael Skilton, an associate professor of nutrition and cardiometabolic health at the University of Sydney with a focus on identifying early development risk factors for heart disease and cancer later in life, said more research was required but the study suggested maternal intake of fats, including some fats considered "good" in later life, could affect development.

“We have focused increasingly on the role of maternal diet,” Associate Professor Skilton said. “We’ve got really good evidence that kids who haven’t grown as well as they should have while they were in the womb are at a much higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes as adults, so there’s proof of principle that early life risk factors can affect our long-term risk of disease.”