Originally published January 3 2006
Pediatric study finds being overweight in pregnancy can lead to obesity in children
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
In Pediatrics, research conducted by Ohio State scientists demonstrates that overweight mothers often predispose their children to obesity early in their lives.
New research suggests that you're not the only one affected by the things you ingest or inhale: Babies born to women who smoked or were obese during pregnancy are much more likely to become overweight as young children.
Ohio State University researchers found that babies born to women who were overweight at the start of their pregnancies had up to three times the risk of becoming overweight themselves compared to children of women at normal weight.
Whether this association is linked to biological changes that occur in utero, or whether it's from environmental exposure after the birth isn't clear.
However, study author Pamela Salsberry said that from her analysis, it looked as if both factors contributed to the early childhood excess weight gain.
Youngsters were considered overweight if their body mass index (BMI) fell at or above the 95th percentile on children's growth charts for their age and gender.
The researchers found that many factors were associated with early childhood weight gain, including race, ethnicity, maternal smoking and maternal pre-pregnancy weight.
Children born to mothers who were overweight or obese had between double and triple the risk of becoming overweight by age 7 than children born to mothers at normal weight for the start of her pregnancy.
"It's important for women to understand that their weight status does matter long-term to their children's weight status," said Salsberry.
"This is an interesting study that reconfirms our already important concerns about health throughout a lifetime," said Dr. Helen Binns, director of the nutrition evaluation clinic at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
As to whether she believes the additional risk comes from environmental exposure or something that occurs prenatally, Binns said, "The prenatal environment is important, and the postnatal environment is important."
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