Pre-Pregnancy Obesity Linked To Infant Growth

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Women who are obese, even before pregnancy, may give birth to babies larger in size, a study reports.

The findings show that infants born to women with a pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) in the obese range of more than 40 are 8% larger during the first 2 years than those born to women with a healthy range of BMI that is 18.5-24.9.

The study, published in the journal 'Childhood Obesity', also reported differences in the pace of infant growth and the time to reach peak growth rate, depending on the mothers' pre-pregnancy BMI.

The researchers also revealed a link between greater maternal weight gain during pregnancy and larger infant size.

"The study demonstrated that both maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain were associated with infant weight trajectories in the first 24 months of life," said Tom Baranowski, Researcher, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, USA.

However, the research also mentions that gestational weight management programmes had no effect on the weight of the child.

Inputs from IANS