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Another study has addressed the health risks of children born to obese mothers.

According to a new article published in the journal Nursing for Women's Health (and reported by ScienceDaily), obesity in pregnant women is associated with pregnancy complications, birth defects, and a greater risk of childhood and adult obesity rates for the infants born to these mothers.

• Merrie Rebecca Walters, RN and Julie Smith Taylor, PhD, RNC, WHNP-BC, the article's authors, reviewed data to determine the potential consequences of maternal obesity.
  
• The researchers found that obese women are more likely to have an infant with a neural tube defect, a heart defect, or multiple problems, than women who are within the normal weight range.
  
• In addition, obese women are more likely that normal-weight women to experience pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes, hypertension, preeclampsia, labor induction, cesarean delivery, and postpartum hemorrhage.

The researchers also discovered that mothers' obesity may hold long-term implications for infants.

• Obesity among pregnant women is linked to childhood obesity in infants.
  
• A mother's obesity during pregnancy more than doubles the risk that the child will be obese at two to four years of age.
  
• These children are also at greater risk for obesity in adolescence and adulthood.
  

"Assisting women of childbearing age to achieve and maintain a healthful weight prior to conception will potentially minimize health risks to both mothers and infants," the authors wrote. "Health care providers must recognize the association between maternal obesity and childhood obesity and work to break the cycle of obesity before it becomes the leading cause of mortality in the United States."

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, mothers, pregnancy

Posted By: Aspen/CRC