Weight gain in pregnancy imprints on child

A new study published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal has shown that mothers who gain excess weight or have elevated blood sugar levels during pregnancy are more likely to have overweight and obese children. The study examined 24,141 mothers and children over a ten-year period. Even though previous studies have found that women who gain excess weight during pregnancy are more likely to have bigger babies, this study revealed that even normal weight babies could grow up to become overweight or obese children.

The authors of this study hypothesised that an ‘imprinting’ mechanism in these children makes them more susceptible to becoming obese over their early years. The children whose mothers suffered from gestational diabetes were at greatest risk of becoming obese, being 30% more likely to be overweight between ages 2 and 10, than those whose mothers had a normal blood sugar level. The researchers suggest that this study proves that the effect of a mother’s womb during pregnancy is as important as the risk factors that the child is exposed to postpartum.