Overweight Moms, Overweight Kids

If a an expectant mother was obese and put on a lot of weight during her pregnancy, the chances are her child is much more likely to be overweight.

That's the conclusion of researchers with Kaiser Permanente, who studied more than 15,700 women who gave birth at its facilities in Southern California during 2011.

The conclusions of the study were sobering: 

• If a women had a BMI of 30 or more prior to their pregnancy, the chances of their child becoming overweight by the age of 2 was more than twice as likely compared to women with a lower BMI

• Even if a woman had a BMI moderately higher than normal, her child had a 50 percent higher chance of being overweight by age 2

• Excessive weight gain during pregnancy was linked to a 23% higher rate of obesity in children by the age of 2

• Breastfeeding significantly cut the chances of a child being overweight, no matter the other circumstances

“Childhood obesity is linked with adult obesity and long-term negative health outcomes, which is why it is important to explore which factors may contribute to excessive weight during early childhood,” explained the study’s lead author, Anny Xiang of Kaiser’s Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. “Our study findings highlight the need for more public health efforts to reduce maternal obesity, appropriate gestational weight gain and to promote breastfeeding.” 

The study was published in the most recent issue of the journal Pediatric Obesity.