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A small study of 23 pregnant women found that babies of obese mothers have thicker artery walls.

Commenting on the research, the British Heart Foundation said,

These results could suggest a direct link between a mother’s weight during pregnancy and her child’s risk of cardiovascular disease.

However, this was a very small study of just 23 women and we would need to see research on a much larger scale to make any firm conclusions. Also, since the babies were only examined at one week old, we don’t know what these findings may mean for their heart health as their life continues.

Researchers studying the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 found that elevated blood pressure during pregnancy, regardless of type and even without known risk factors, signals high risk of later cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes.

Clinical monitoring, risk factor evaluation, and early intervention could benefit women with hypertension in pregnancy.

Analysis of 12 years of health records for 388000 Americans in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study found that calcium supplements are associated with an excess risk of CVD death in men but not in women.

Total calcium intake had a U-shaped association with total CVD mortality in men, with increased total CVD mortality observed at calcium intakes of 1500mg/d and higher.

Commentary Are Calcium Supplements Harmful to Cardiovascular Disease? concludes, The paradigm ‘the more the better’ is invalid for calcium supplementation.

A study of over 44000 Britons found that vegetarians had a 32% lower risk of hospitalization or death from ischaemic heart disease.

The EPIC Oxford study followed a total of 44561 men and women living in England and Scotland, 34% of whom consumed a vegetarian diet. After an average follow-up of 11.6 years, vegetarians had lower mean BMI, non-HDL-cholesterol concentration, and systolic blood pressure, and as a result a lower risk of ischaemic heart disease.