NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who gain excessive or even the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy are more likely to have an overweight child than their counterparts who don't gain enough weight, new research shows.
In light of the obesity epidemic that is sweeping many developed countries, the new findings suggest that guidelines dictating appropriate weight gain during pregnancy may need to be revised, according to a report in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
"Maternal weight gain during pregnancy is an important determinant of birth outcomes," lead author Dr. Emily Oken, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a statement. "Our study shows that excessive weight gain during pregnancy was directly associated with having an overweight child."
Current recommendations for maternal weight gain in pregnancy are based on guidelines set forth by the Institute of Medicine in 1990. Compared with earlier recommendations, these guidelines generally allow greater weight gain in light of evidence that women with low pregnancy weight gains have a higher risk of having an infant with a below-average birth weight.
However, in recent years, many have questioned whether these guidelines actually promote better birth outcomes, particularly within developed countries.
Oken and her colleagues conducted a study of 1,044 mother-child pairs. The women were divided into three groups based on whether their pregnancy weight gain was below, within, or above the values set by the Institute of Medicine.
According to the guidelines, the amount of weight that should be gained, based on the mother's BMI before pregnancy, ranged from 25.35 to 35.27 lb. for women with a normal BMI, 27.56 to 39.68 lb. for a low BMI, 15.43 to 25.35 lb. for an overweight BMI, and at least 13.23 lb. for women with an obese
BMI.
Excessive weight gain was noted in 51 percent of subjects, adequate weight gain in 35 percent, and inadequate weight gain in 14 percent. Mothers with excessive or adequate weight gain were roughly four times more likely than those with inadequate weight gain to have a child who was overweight by age 3.
"Because childhood obesity is increasing in prevalence and effective treatment remains elusive, preventing childhood obesity remains critical," Oken emphasized. "The Institute of Medicine may need to reevaluate its recommendations for weight gain in (pregnancy), considering not only birth outcomes but also risk of obesity for both mother and child."
SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology, April 2007.
