How do we stop the epidemic of childhood obesity? Get our own weight under control first. A new study found that weight-loss surgery before becoming pregnant might break the cycle of obesity in families. But do the effects of weight-loss surgery outweigh the benefits of simply teaching your kids healthy eating habits?

The new research found that undergoing weight-loss surgery prior to pregnancy can significantly lower your child's risk of obesity and improve cardio-metabolic markers (indicators of a person's risk of diabetes and heart disease).

The findings confirm previous research that a healthy weight before and during pregnancy may be more influential than genes when it comes to the connection between a mother's obesity and her child's chances of childhood obesity, according to study co-author John Kral, MD, PhD.

The 49 mothers in the study had children born both before and after they underwent weight-loss surgery. Researchers found that the children born after the surgery were three times less likely to become severely obese. They also found that those children had lower cholesterol and reduced insulin resistance.

So is surgery the only way to pass on these benefits to your child? While the study focused specifically on surgical methods, Kral said in a statement, "To our knowledge, our paper is the first to demonstrate that dramatic maternal weight loss causes metabolic improvements in their children," said Kral. "Our findings show that obese women should be encouraged to lose weight before becoming pregnant, and then, once pregnant, should limit their weight gain."

Amy Hendel, a family lifestyle therapist and author of Fat Families, Thin Families, doesn't find the results of the study too surprising, but hesitates to attribute them solely to surgical intervention. Hendel ultimately believes it's the commitment to weight loss itself that contributes to a sustained, long-term healthy weight.

"It's obvious to me that children can be born with a pre-disposition to easier weight gain due to familial inherited biomarkers and also exposure in utero to certain nutritional variables," says Hendel. "On the other hand, even with a predisposition, what happens outside the womb will ultimately help to strongly determine weight, food and palate preferences, because our parents are our role models for nutrition and fitness behaviors. From my perspective as a family lifestyle therapist, that's far more crucial to long term weight and health issues in our offspring."

Most importantly, what both the study and Hendel seem agree on is the earlier a woman makes the commitment to weight loss, the healthier her future child is likely to be.