Weighty pregnancy makes for weighty baby
Categories: Pregnancy & birth, Health & safety, Eating & nutrition, Medical conditions
According to new research, women who gain too much weight during pregnancy run the risk of delivering fat babies. Of 40,000 U.S. women studied, one in five was found to be overweight during pregnancy and running the risk of delivering a baby weighing nine pounds or more. Wow--that's a LOT of baby! In fact, twenty percent of women who gained more than forty pounds delivered heavy babies as compared with less than twelve percent of women who gained moderate amounts of weight.
Heavy weight gain during pregnancy can also lead to complications like gestational diabetes. Thirty percent of women in the group who gained more than forty pounds and had gestational diabetes ended up with plus-sized babies. The research indicated, however, that women who gained more than forty pounds during pregnancy were likely to have heavy babies even if such complications didn't develop.
Although I'm having a little trouble following it, according to the researchers these results also indicate that women who gain too much weight during pregnancy could be setting their children up to be "programmed" to be overweight or even obese during the rest of their lives. Weight gain in pregnancy has risen quite a bit in the last twenty years, leaving many experts to speculate that this increase has contributed to the obesity epidemic in the U.S.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
c_rousseau05 11-01-2008 @ 4:34AM
I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm overweight, was overweight when I was pregnant with my 14 month old and developed Gestational Diabetes and preeclampsia (which has nothing to do with weight). I'm not as overweight as I was but I still need work. I only gained 10 pounds throughout my entire pregnancy and my baby was term and only 7 lbs. 11oz. Not the tiniest of babies but not a big one either. I was able to have a successful vaginal delivery too. My daughter has no problems and is praised by my doctor as being "perfect weight for her age and very healthy." Perhaps breastfeeding had a lot to do with her weight but I think what leads kids to obesity is not from the womb, but from a parents example and teaching of nutrition, also from self esteem.
I have been working on losing weight ever since I stopped breastfeeding my daughter two months ago. I've been successful so far but I want to give her a good role model in myself and I try to feed her right with my doctors advice in hand too. Right now she is a 21 pound 14 month old. I agree that weight can have effects on the pregnancy and make it complicated in many ways, and I also agree that severely excessive weight gain in the mother can cause many problems with the pregnancy and delivery and even her own health post baby...but I cannot buy that being overweight has anything to do with your child becoming obese in the future. That has to do with parenting and nutrition style in my opinion.
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Jamie 11-02-2008 @ 7:04PM
My two boys do not fit this mold. I gained a little over 40 pounds with each child. Both of my boys were born at 9 pounds and have always been in the 25th - 50th percentile for weight and in the 75th - 80th percentile for height. I lost ALL of my baby weight with each pregnancy less than a year after giving birth. I don't this this post sends a good message. Women should not diet while pregnant. They should listen to their body, make healthy choices, and gain the weight the baby needs to thrive. I never focused on my weight, just my diet.
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Amanda 11-02-2008 @ 9:44PM
I think this sends a terrible message. I am a small person - 5 feet tall, and am of average weight. I gained 35-50 lbs with each of my 3 - and they were all nearly 9 lbs in weight. They are all below 50th percentile for weight now. Has it occurred to anyone that a bigger baby weighs more in utero, needs more nourishment in utero, and therefore causes Mom to gain more weight in order to sustain it? I think it all is very individual and as long as all parties involved are healthy, that is the most important thing.
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