Study: Too little weight gain during pregnancy linked to childhood obesity

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last updated 8 January 2015

Research has long indicated that children whose mothers gain too much weight during pregnancy are at greater risk for obesity. A new study, however, suggests that a mother's gaining too little weight during pregnancy is detrimental to her child's health, as well.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found that women whose weights were healthy before pregnancy were 63 percent more likely to have overweight children if they gained less than the amount of weight recommended by their doctors. According to Time, "healthy weight gain during pregnancy for normal weight women is between 25 to 35 pounds."

Gaining too little or too much weight during pregnancy "could potentially have long-term effects on the child's subsequent growth and weight," public health researcher Sneka Sridhar told The Huffington Post. The risk of gaining too much weight during pregnancy is still greater — it makes children 80 percent more likely to be overweight — but the new findings show that either extreme should be avoided.