Babies Born to Obese Mothers at Risk for Heart Disease

Doctor examining a pregnant woman
February 28, 2013 5:00 pm By Desiree Browne
,

As if you needed even more encouragement to get in shape, new research published in Fetal and Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease of Childhood finds the babies born to overweight and obese mothers are at greater risk for heart disease later in life. To determine the child’s risk, doctors monitored the thickness of the aorta, which is a sign of heart disease.

Pregnant women with an average age of 35 were examined during week 16 of their pregnancy. These women had BMIs ranging between 17 and 42. A person with a BMI of 25 or greater is considered overweight or obese. What the researchers found was a pretty clear relationship between the mother’s weight and the thickness of the infant’s aorta.The greater the mother’s weight, the thicker the walls of the aorta. This relationship was the case no matte how much the infant weighed at birth. Though the study is a small one, doctors believe that a mother’s weight does seem to have an affect on the baby’s future risk for stroke and heart disease.

It’s safe to say women who want to begin trying to start a family should make sure they’re at a good weight and BMI and should continue to exercise and make healthy food choices during pregnancy when they do conceive.

Stories We Like

Comments