(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Babies born underweight because of poor prenatal nutrition have a high risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life. This new study fortifies previous research that shows infants under 5.5 pounds have a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes

"The bottom line is that if you don't have delivery of enough nutrients from the mother to the baby, the baby's pancreatic cells will be programmed abnormally," says lead researcher Mary-Elizabeth Patti, M.D., from Harvard Medical School. "The effect doesn't show up until later on -- usually not until adolescence or adulthood."

A pregnant mother's inadequate nutrition isn't the only cause of prenatal malnourishment. There are many factors that can cause reduced nourishment, including abnormal development of the placenta and its blood vessels, or high blood pressure, which damages vessels. Problems can also result from intrauterine growth restriction.

Researchers conducted a series of experiments beginning with pregnant mice. Mice were separated into two groups of mothers and were studied for the three weeks of pregnancy. For two weeks, both groups were fully nourished. On the third week, one group of mothers was restricted to only half the amount as the other group. Babies who were undernourished weighed 23-percent less than the control group.

About three weeks after delivery, undernourished babies caught up to the others, similar to human babies. There was no notable difference in between the two groups. Researchers fed both groups the same diet, limiting other risk factors of diabetes.

Researchers began to test blood glucose after meals. No difference was found until the mice were 4 months old -- an age equivalent to human adolescence -- when mice babies born underweight began showing a higher level of blood glucose. By 6 months of age, the mice had extremely high levels of blood glucose, similar to full-blown diabetes in humans. "They were somehow not 'programmed' to secrete a limited amount of insulin later in life, no matter what signal they got from glucose. The impairment was permanent. It couldn't be corrected even when the body caught up to normal weight," say Dr. Patti.

The findings underscore the importance of prenatal care as well as the importance of preventative maintenance with those born underweight. "In particular, someone who was a low-birth weight baby can compound the risk of developing diabetes by becoming overweight," study authors conclude.