24 Feb 2015 --- Some scientists say that when mothers eat poorly during pregnancy, they pass along traits to their children that make them more likely to have poor diets and have related health problems. But a new study in mice by researchers in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine has shown that the environment in which a child lives may be an equal if not stronger force in determining obesity than their mother's diet.