- Researchers report that weight gain over the recommended amount during pregnancy can lead to heart disease or diabetes later in life.
- In the study, women who were underweight at the start of their pregnancy and gained more than the recommended weight during pregnancy increased their risk of death by heart disease by 84%.
- Experts not that excessive weight gain can also affect the health of the baby.
Women who gain more than the recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy have a higher risk of death from heart disease or diabetes in the decades that follow.
That’s according to a
In their study, researchers analyzed health information for more than 45,000 women who gave birth in the 1950s and 1960s. The data included body mass index (BMI) and weight changes during pregnancy and compared those numbers to current recommendations.
Health records were linked to mortality data through 2016 – about 50 years later.
Researchers reported that about 39% of the women in the study had died by the final follow-up date. They were classified as death by any cause, cardiovascular disease, and death by diabetes-related causes.
Researchers said the death rate correlated with pre-pregnancy BMI. Those with the lowest BMI died at a lower rate than women with higher BMIs.
Some of the specific findings included:
- Women who were considered underweight before pregnancy and gained more than the now recommended weight had an 84% higher risk of death by heart disease.
- Women considered to have average weight before pregnancy and gained more than the current recommended weight had the all-cause death rate increase by 9% and death by heart disease increase by 20%
- Women considered overweight had a 12% increased risk of dying if they…
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