Overweight During Pregnancy: Bad for Baby?

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Alarming News

It’s no secret for mothers that being obese can be harmful to their health, and can even contribute to an earlier death, but there has been some new research that just might be enough to motivate mothers to watch their weight. Researchers in Scotland say that overweight moms might be cutting the lives of their children short as well. The study shows that children born to overweight moms were more likely to die before the age of 55 than kids who were born to normal weight moms. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here

The Study

The study is the first of it’s kind and indicates that the majority of the children of overweight mothers who died young, died as a result of heart disease or cancer. The children whose mothers were overweight when they were born had a 35 percent higher chance of dying before age 55 than children born to normal-weight mothers.

In addition to the early death risk, children born to overweight moms had a 29 percent higher chance of having to be admitted to the hospital for a heart problem than other kids.

Why is this?

The reason for the premature deaths in children whose mothers were overweight is not clear. Most experts agree that the most probable reason is that the mother’s poor eating habits and genetics were carried over to the children. This is likely to be the most probable reason, however, the truth is that there are most likely many different factors that contribute to the risk of early death. Certain health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and others can also play a role in the risk factor. A mother’s weight during pregnancy is also a factor, and women should try as hard as they can to keep their weight under control and not gain too much weight during pregnancy.

The Take-Away

The take away from this study is that women need to pay close attention to their weight not only before and during pregnancy but after childbirth as well. This is something that not many women put too much thought in, but they really should. “This study highlights the importance of weight management in mothers and their offspring,” author Dr. Sohinee Bhattacharya, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, said to the Telegraph.

“We need to find out how to help young women and their children control their weight better so that chronic disease risk is not transmitted from generation to generation.” The main thing for women to remember is that before they get pregnant, they need to be at a healthy weight, and during pregnancy as well. This will help to reduce the chance of being overweight after childbirth, and will, in turn, reduce the risk of contributing to early death risk in their children.

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Dr. Christine Lee, MD
Dr. Christine Lee, MD | ConceiveEasy
Dr. Christine Lee earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Biology and Master of Science in Biomolecular Organization. Dr. Lee is Lab Director for ConceiveEasy and is board certified as a High Complexity Laboratory Director (HCLD).

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