PHILADELPHIA, June 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Children of mothers who
gain more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy are more
likely to be overweight at age seven, say researchers from The Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine, in a study published today in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition. Children of mothers who are obese prior to pregnancy and gain
excessive weight are at the greatest risk for overweight.
"The earliest determinants of obesity may operate during intrauterine
life, and gestational weight gain may influence the environment in the womb
in ways that can have long-term consequences on the risk of obesity in
children," said study leader Brian Wrotniak, P.T., Ph.D., of The Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. "Adherence to
pregnancy weight gain recommendations may be a new and effective way to
prevent childhood obesity, since currently almost half of U.S. women exceed
these recommendations."
The researchers reviewed data from a cohort of 10,226 participants
enrolled between 1959 and 1965 in the multicenter National Collaborative
Perinatal Project. It was initiated to investigate risk factors for
cerebral palsy at 12 U.S. sites. This study looked at the children born at
full-term gestation, and researchers evaluated socioeconomic and growth
data during gestation, at birth and at age 7. Maternal data were collected
at enrollment by using a questionnaire that included maternal pre-pregnancy
weight, age and race. Maternal weight and height were measured at the time
of delivery to determine gestational weight gain - the difference between
the measured weight at delivery and the reported pre-pregnancy weight.
According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which makes
recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy, the amount of weight
women should gain during pregnancy depends on the mother's weight status
before pregnancy. Women at a healthy pre-pregnancy weight are encouraged to
gain 25 to 35 pounds, while women who are overweight should stay between 15
to 25 pounds. Women who are underweight should gain more weight during
pregnancy -- between 28 and 40 pounds.
Of the women studied by the researchers, 11 percent gained excessive
weight, 24 percent gained adequate weight and 65 percent gained
insufficient weight. Today, said the researchers, these proportions would
be very different, with almost one in two women gaining more weight than
recommended during pregnancy.
The authors say that encouraging pregnant women to adopt healthy eating
practices and engage in aerobic physical activity could help them achieve
appropriate weight gain and also help prevent obesity in their children.
They add that benefits would likewise result from healthy eating and
exercise before becoming pregnant, as well as reducing postpartum weight
retention before a subsequent pregnancy.
Using the IOM guidelines, children whose mothers exceeded the
recommended weight gain were 48 percent more likely to be overweight than
children whose mothers stayed within the recommended weight gain. The risk
of overweight was similar for children born of women who gained
insufficient weight compared with mothers who gained appropriate weight
during pregnancy.
The researchers add that more research is necessary to clarify whether
the association between greater gestational weight gain and increased odds
of overweight in offspring is causal, and whether it exists in today's
environment of increasing obesity.
Dr. Wrotniak's coauthors were Justine Shults, Ph.D., of the Center for
Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Samantha Butts, M.D., M.S.C.E., of the
Division of Infertility and Reproductive Endocrinology at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine; and Nicolas Stettler, M.D., M.S.C.E., of
Children's Hospital and the Penn CCEB.
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric
hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional
patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare
professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's
Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children
worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the
country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In
addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have
brought the 430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children
and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
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Related links:
http://www.chop.edu
CONTACT:
Joey McCool of The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia, +1-267-426-6070, McCool@email.chop.edu
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