A new study found that pregnant women who gain excessive weight during this time have big babies. They put their children at risk of obesity. According to the researchers, these babies are prone to obesity as adults. Still there is a no definite result which shows that the obesity occurs from the mother’s weight gain or some other factors like genetics which the mother and baby share.
The study was published in The Lancet and was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Read on to know how overeating pregnant mothers could make obese babies.
About the Study
Researchers followed all the new births in New Jersey and Michigan between 1989-2003. their primary focus was on those women who more than one child. This eliminated the chances of genetic factors of obesity. The study involved 513,000 women and their 1.1 million babies.
They discovered that women who put on 53 pounds at the time of pregnancy hd babies who were 150 grams heavier than the newborns of women who put on 22 pound during their pregnancy.
The Findings
According to Stephan Rossner, you can start preventing obesity at any time. To change their lifestyle and eat less may be difficult for pregnant women, but it will eventually help their children in the long run.
More than half of obese and overweight women gain extra weight than their doctors recommend in the U.S. Also, more than a third of women who have normal weight gain excessive weight than recommended by their doctors.
As per the Institute of Medicine, women with normal weight should gain 25-35 pounds during their pregnancy. Whereas obese and overweight women should only gain 11-25 pounds. The study found that when pregnant women tend to overeat, a few of the extra calories may overstimulate the growth of the fetus.
