Women who gain either more or less weight than recommended
during pregnancy may be more likely to have an overweight child, a new
study has found.
Researchers looked at health records of 4,145 women, and the medical records of their children between ages 2 and 5.
They found that among women who had a normal body mass index (BMI)
before pregnancy, those who gained less than the recommended amount (of
25 to 35 pounds) were 63 percent more likely to have a child who became
overweight or obese, compared with those who gained the recommended
amount.
Similarly, women with a normal BMI before pregnancy who gained more
weight than recommended were 80 percent more likely to have an
overweight or obese child, according to the study published today (April
14) in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
“Gaining either too little or too much weight in pregnancy may
permanently affect mechanisms that manage energy balance and metabolism
in the offspring, such as appetite control and energy expenditure,” said
study researcher Sneha Sridhar, a public health researcher at Kaiser
Permanente division of research in Oakland, Calif.
“This could potentially have long-term effects on the child’s subsequent growth and weight,” Sridhar said.
Previous studies have shown that gaining too much weight during
pregnancy can increase the risk of gestational diabetes for the mother,
as well as increase the risk of health problems for the child, such as
childhood obesity.
But other studies have also shown that gaining too little weight
during pregnancy can lead to complications such as preterm birth and
small infants.
In the study, the researchers also found that among all women who
gained more than the recommended weight during pregnancy, 20.4 percent
had children who were overweight or obese, compared with 19.5 percent of
women who gained less than the recommended weight and 14.5 percent of women who gained weight within the guidelines.
Women in the study were members of Kaiser Permanente health care
plans in Northern California, and were racially diverse. They had
completed a health survey between 2007 and 2009 and subsequently had a
baby, the researchers said.
As for the children, the researchers considered a child overweight or
obese if he or she had a BMI greater than 85 percent of children in
their age group, following the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention child growth standards.
Obesity is partly genetic, but the finding that even normal weight
women were more likely to have overweight children if they gained too
much or too little weight during pregnancy, suggests that weight
conditions during pregnancy may affect the child independently of
genetic factors, said Monique Hedderson, another researcher on the
study.
In fact, the impact of inappropriate weight gain during pregnancy on
child’s weight appeared to be stronger among normal weight women than
among those who were obese or underweight before pregnancy, the
researchers said.
According to the Institute of Medicine, the amount of weight that
women are recommended to gain during pregnancy depends on their BMI
before pregnancy.
Obese women who have a BMI of 30 or greater are recommended to gain
between 11 and 20 pounds during pregnancy, and overweight women (with a
BMI between 25 and 29) are recommended to gain 15 to 25 pounds.
Underweight women (with a BMI less than 18.5) are recommended to gain 28 to 40 pounds.
- By Bahar Gholipour, Staff Writer, Live Science
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