“Eating for two” and “taking it easy” may not be the safest advice for obese pregnant women. In fact, the opposite applies for most obese women.
A recent study reveals the improved overall health of obese women who followed healthy diet and exercise during pregnancy was also passed along to their unborn children.
“For a very long time, it was a concern that maintaining the same weight during pregnancy or losing weight during pregnancy could be detrimental to the unborn fetus,” Raul Artal, M.D., chair of the Saint Louis department of obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health and principal investigator of the study, told Ivanhoe. “As we suspected, women who are overweight or obese will do well and don’t need to gain more weight during pregnancy.”
The study conducted by Saint Louis University researchers looked at 96 obese women who suffer from gestational diabetes. Thirty-nine dieted and exercised to control their weight, while the remaining 57 women followed the diet routinely given to patients who suffer from gestational diabetes. Findings suggest the babies born to women who lost or maintained their weight were more likely to be of normal size. Infants born to women who gained weight were more likely to be bigger themselves.
The health benefits did not stop when pregnancy was over. Women who lost or maintained their weight retained less weight from the pregnancy, which decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes and other health problems related to obesity.
Artal recommends light exercise such as riding a stationary bike or walking for 30 minutes five times a week. He also cautions these guidelines would not hold true for women with a healthy weight or who are underweight at pregnancy. It is customarily recommended that women gain 15 pounds during their pregnancy.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Raul Artal, M.D., Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2007;32:596-601