Posted on June 25, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
New research is encouraging
women not to gain more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy because the extra pounds could increase their child’s chances of becoming overweight. More from
Reuters:
Looking at data from more than 10,000 mother-child pairs, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that children whose mothers gained more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy were 48 percent more likely than other children to be overweight at age 7.
In the U.S., the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends that normal-weight women gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy. Women who were overweight before becoming pregnant are encouraged to gain a little less -- 15 to 25 pounds -- while underweight women should put on 28 to 40 pounds.
The new findings suggest that exceeding those recommendations may raise a child's own odds of excessive weight gain in the future.
"Based on these results, encouraging healthy eating and aerobic physical activity for pregnant women to help meet the IOM guidelines may help curtail the childhood obesity epidemic," said lead researcher Dr. Brian Wrotniak, a postdoctoral fellow at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Reminds me of last week’s report:
High-Fat Diet During Pregnancy, May Impact Daughter's Puberty.
