Pregnancy weight linked to overweight kids
Monday, 02 Apr 2007 11:19
Pregnant women are advised to maintain a healthy weight
Women who gain weight during pregnancy are four times more likely to have children who are overweight as toddlers than women who gain inadequate weight, US researchers have said.
The team from Harvard university found this to be true whether women put on an excessive or appropriate amount of weight.
They studied 1,044 mother-and-child pairs taking part in Project Viva at Harvard's department of ambulatory care and prevention's obesity prevention programme.
Just over half of women gained excessive weight, 35 per cent gained adequate weight and 14 per cent gained inadequate weight according to guidelines set out by the Institute of Medicine in 1990.
Dr Emily Oken, the study's lead author, said the findings proved that "excessive weight gain during pregnancy [is] directly associated with having an overweight child".
"Maternal weight gain during pregnancy is an important determinant of birth outcomes," she added.
"These findings suggest that pregnancy weight gain can influence child health even after birth and may cause the obstetric community to rethink current guidelines."
Writing in the April issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the researchers argue that the link with overweight children may be due to a number of factors, including genetic, dietary and behavioural issues.
The researchers also propose that weight gain during pregnancy may alter the environment in the uterus, influencing foetal growth and possibly resulting in persistent programming of child weight.
Researcher Dr Matthew Gillman commented: "Women are coming into pregnancy at higher weights and likely gaining excessively more than they used to.
"We need to find out how to counter this trend – but not go too far back in the other direction when women were gaining too little weight."
The UK's Department of Health and Food Standards Agency advise that women should not put on more than between ten and 12.5kg (22 - 28 pounds) during pregnancy but should equally not try to diet.