High pregnancy weight gain leads to obese babies--study

Obesity in babies: genetic?
The researchers at Children's Hospital, Boston examined data from 513,501 women who had two or more live births and then compared their pregnancy weight gain and birth weights of siblings to study genetic influences.

For the study, the researchers observed around 1.1 million babies.

The research averred that as many as one in five women gains too much weight during pregnancy, doubling the chances that her child will weigh 9 pounds (4 kg) or more.

According to health experts, a normal, healthy baby should weigh approximately 6 to 9 pounds (2700 to 4000 grams).

Excess weight at the time of conception is not only a problem for women's health during gestation and at the time of delivery, but it can also pose a problem for the baby later in life.

It is a well known fact that mothers with gestational diabetes are more likely to deliver large babies, but this study showed a strong effect of weight gain even in mothers who were not diabetic.

Study results
The study concluded that a mother's weight gain directly influences the baby's weight.

Compared to pregnant women who gained 18 to 22 pounds (a healthy weight gain for normal-weight women), women weighing 44 to 49 pounds were 1.7 times more likely to have a high-birth-weight baby, experts stated.

High birth-weight was defined as 8.8 pounds or more. Women who gained more than 53 pounds were 2.3 times as likely to have a high-birth-weight baby.

The Institute of Medicine last year updated guidelines suggesting stricter adherence to weight-gain recommendations for all women and laid new rules to curb weight gain in pregnant women.

The study has been published in the journal 'The Lancet.'