Pregnant women advised to keep weight in check
20-3-07
Hadi DP Mahmud
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
MORE than one (12.8 per cent) in 10 females aged 20 and above in Brunei were classified as obese in 1997, a health specialist said, stressing the need for women to be more conscious about their weight particularly pregnant women.
Apart from Indonesia, Brunei has the third-highest percentage of obese females in Asean. It tailed Vietnam and Thailand, where obese women of the same age bracket comprised 16.8 and 13 per cent of the population respectively, said Masni Ibrahim, the head of Community Nutrition Services Division at the Ministry of Health.
As of 2000, the United States still has the biggest percentage of obese people among the developed countries with 30.5 per cent. This was followed by Australia with 19.8 per cent, New Zealand and the United Kingdom both with 16 per cent. Korea, Japan, Norway and Sweden did not reach the 10 per cent mark.
The World Health Organisation described obesity as the biggest “unrecognised” public health problem in the world. Evidence from Asia is that it is escalating faster than scholars could have ever dreamt of, studies say, and hence existing predictions are probably “substantial underestimates”.
Masni gave a lecture on how pregnant women could keep their weight in check during the fifth national prenatal symposium held at Universiti Brunei Darussalam over the weekend.
A child would be three times more likely to be overweight by the age of seven if the mother was overweight/obese before her pregnancy, she said in her presentation.
Childhood obesity is one of the main predictors of adult obesity, with studies showing that one out of three obese preschoolers will become obese adults. Half of obese schoolchildren become obese adults. However, most obese adults were not obese children, she said.
Health consequences of being obese include: increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoarthritis and some cancers.Even for those within a healthy weight range, the risk factor goes up with weight increase.
Investing in healthy eating before pregnancy can bring benefits to both the child and the mother, said Masni, who initiated the establishment of the division she is now heading.
“It promotes your own health, promotes appropriate weight gain, promotes your baby’s normal and healthy outcome. It also prepares you to be fit and healthy in the post-natal period, and prevents excess weight gain and therefore prevents obesity in the post-natal period,” said the WHO primary health care trainer.
“However, overweight pregnant women should not try and lose weight during pregnancy, and keep a close watch on the weight gain instead,” said Masni, who graduated from Robert Gordon’s University in Aberdeen, Scotland. “Follow the dietary guidelines and five food groups and enjoy a variety of foods, especially the ones with low fat and cholestrol. Caffeine intake will also have to be limited to two cups per day or less. Raw fish, shark, swordfish and king mackerals should be avoided, as well as unpasteurized cheese, such as Brie and Camembert.”
Masni recommended that the weight gained by pregnant women be as follows: For those with a body mass index of not more than 19.8 before pregnancy, the recommended weight to be gained is about 12.5 to 18.0 kilograms.
Those with a BMI of 19.8 to 26 need to limit weight gain at 11.5 to 16 kilograms, while those with a BMI of 26.1 to 29 are recommended to gain 7.0 to 11.5 kilograms of weight. For those with a BMI of more than 29.0, the recommended weight gain is 6.8 kilograms while women with twin pregnancies are advised to gain weight by 15.9 to 20.4 kilograms.
The Brunei Times