Having too much pregnancy weight gain has been identified as one of the causes of obesity in young children. It makes perfectly logical sense and now has the researched backing that may be more convincing of mothers towards healthier lifestyle changes.
Published by Biomed Central Pregnancy & Childbirth 2015, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Harokopio University found that as a pregnant mother increases in weight beyond what is recommended, smokes throughout her pregnancy, or doesn’t exercise sufficiently, the GREATER likelihood that her baby will grow to an obese child by age eight. This sets up their health and wellness for the rest of their life. (Make sure you’re doing the best pregnancy exercises to reduce your risk.)
This isn’t a study declaring a direct link between the cause and effects, but there is a strong association. (Learn the difference between link and association in a discussion about autism in children here.)
Too Much Pregnancy Weight Gain Is The Beginning
How does this happen? The first obvious solution you may think of is just eating too much during pregnancy.
Everybody says “You’re eating for two now!” so we add that extra helping on regularly. But in all reality, we only really need about 300-400 extra calories per day. That’s the same as a bowl of cereal or an extra salad with a little chicken on it. It’s NOT the two extra slices of chocolate cake or the extra cheeseburger at lunch.
I’ve never had trouble with weight and I’ve hated how through my entire life other women and even mothers seem to hate me for it. Or they’d tell me to stop exercising so much because it’s TOO much for me.
So I’d always bite my tongue and then vent later about the fact that it’s GENETIC for me. I can’t help it. In fact, I’ve had trouble gaining weight in the past because I’ve WANTED to weigh more instead of being barely on the line of a healthy BMI.
I was actually nervous during my first pregnancy because I was worried that I wouldn’t gain ENOUGH weight in order to be healthy enough for my baby. But I still followed the recommendations for food and protein intake, while still exercising best I could regularly. And everything turned out just fine and I was within the healthy ranges STILL.
The less you weigh at the beginning of your pregnancy, the more you’ll need to gain and vice versa. Here’s a chart showing what range you should gain as a healthy level based on your pre-pregnancy body mass index.
Image courtesy of healthtap.com
How To Keep A Healthy Weight During Pregnancy
Easy answers:
- Eat Healthy - You can ready about the right foods to eat during pregnancy, and also the harmful ones to avoid, here and here.
- But if you think about it: imagine you have your baby in your arms and you’re starting to feed them table foods, mushy or not. Would you give your baby that can of soda you’re craving in the fridge? If they wanted the extra cheesy pizza that you already indulged in twice this week, would you give it to them? Of course not! But what you take in is ALSO what your baby takes in.
- Now I’m not going to lie to you and say that I don’t have a piece of cherry chocolate cake on my desk right now that I plan on eating with my lunch. Yes, you should STILL be able to enjoy those treats once in a while, yes! Just make sure they’re a healthy ones.
Sorry, my cake doesn’t look this pretty.
- For example: The very piece of chocolate cake I’m talking about, I made it from scratch. It has HALF the sugar that the recipe calls for. I made it with healthy Smart Balance oil spread instead of butter. The flour is NOT bleached or heavily processed. I never put frosting on my desserts. And the cherries on the bottom aren’t from a jar or a can that was saturated in corn syrup or sugars- they were organic and freshly frozen. You can do the same with your treats.
- Exercise - You certainly don’t have to take your exercise to the extreme during your pregnancy. I’m not talking about running marathons here. But even just walking for 20-30 minutes per day is great! You don’t have to continue with your intense cross-fit training sessions either. Just keep your muscles strong through basic strengthening exercises. Get started with easy pregnancy exercises here. If you had a routine before hand and have been able to continue with it, excellent! Don’t stop because it’s the best investment for you and your baby’s birth, let alone the fact of keeping a healthy weight.
- Stop Smoking - There are a myriad of other harmful things going on inside of you and your baby beyond the issue of weight gain here. PLEASE talk with your doctor and do what you can to quit this habit. I know you won’t regret it. You can read more about smoking during pregnancy here.
Even just making a change in one of these areas will be beneficial and you will feel SO much better because of it. Of course, all three are optimal for your best outcomes with your pregnancy and birth.
Causes Of Obesity In Children You Can Control
This isn’t a discussion about what you’re feeding your children and the amount of playtime they’re getting. You can certainly control those two factors most of the time, hopefully. But the MAIN thing you can control with absolutely certainly, while they’re still inside of you, is your OWN weight control.
Again, I don’t understand the feeling of being overweight, or constantly setting that new year’s resolution to lose it, or feeling the guilt of what I’m eating when I look in the mirror.
But I DO understand what it feels like to be belittled because of my weight, even though it’s on the opposite end of the scale.
I often tell other women that I exercise to feel well, not to stay skinny. I couldn’t care LESS about being skinny. I just want to be healthy-and if that means hanging onto these gorgeous little love handles I’ve gradually acquired from having children, so be it.
It ALL starts with how you treat yourself, and we all want you to treat yourself right. You may have circumstances and health situations that most don’t understand, and that’s okay. But only YOU know best how to deal with them and take care of yourself, not only for you, but for your baby and loved ones.
Be Your Best Self For Your Baby With A Birthing Course
You’re here because you want to give your baby the best start in life, right? Well, there’s nothing wrong with giving YOURSELF a great start in their life as well.
Neil says
Hi, Sarah. I never actually knew that too much weight gain could lead to obesity. I’ve also heard that “eating for 2” phrase very often with pregnant women lol!
Yeah, I suppose keeping a healthy weight is really down to common sense and what you would normally eat without pregnancy.
Again, Thank You for a great piece of information here 🙂
Neil
Thanks for your comment Neil. I always enjoy hearing from you.
Ana says
Hi This post is great. I actually believe that eating too much while pregnant sets the tone for your child’s relationship with food. So it is very important to pay attention to what we put in our bodies. I didn’t have any cravings during my pregnancies but I wonder about all those women who say they just can resist it and “Have to have it or else…” can we resist these physiological/biological triggers in our body? Could this be a battle between Body and Brain?
I’m not sure about that Ana. I’ve had moments for sure where I couldn’t function until I had some potato chips or chocolate. But it faded after a little while and now I think it’s just because I’ve eaten those things a little more often that I’m trained to want them more, so I try to resist now because I don’t really have the cravings any more. But yes, I agree there is some sort of a battle between body and brain to some degree or another. I’ll have to look into it more. Thank you for the insight!
Emma says
Hi, this is great information. Thankfully I didn’t put on much weight in my pregnancy. I ate normally, I don’t think I ate that much extra because I used to feel pretty stuffed and get indigestion. And I had a lot more time to exercise while I was pregnant than now!
I usually feel really full too. That’s great you were able to exercise though. Thanks for your comment, Emma!
Annie Louisa says
Hi Sarah I didn’t know there was a connection between obesity in children and too much pregnancy weight gain. So it makes even more sense, then, to be careful to eat sensibly during pregnancy if you want to give your baby the best start in life.
Absolutely Annie. Interesting how we have to have a fully published study confirm what we sort of already knew, we just never thought about it. Thanks for your comment!
Jess says
Hi Sarah, What a great post! With childhood obesity on the rise this is important information. And gestational diabetes is a whole other issue. You really showed the importance of mom taking care of her own health and pregnancy weight gain in order to safeguard the health of her baby and give them the best possible start.
I can relate to your not being able to gain weight and the judgement it can bring as my mom deals with the same. It’s hard on her because she does nothing to lose weight, it’s simply her body’s makeup. Bottom line: like you alluded the important thing is to be healthy not our size 🙂
I remember seeing a pic once that had all these mothers lined up next to each other in their bathing suits. They were all different shapes and sizes and heights. But it said they ALL had the same BMI and were in a healthy range. So even if we see someone that looks a little fluffy, they may be perfectly healthy for their body type. I always tell my mom that she’s not over weight even though some abstract measurement tells her she is. There’s many different factors involved that your doctor can educate you more on. Thanks so much for your comment, Jess.
Jamie says
I agree with you completely here. I think too many women gain too much weight from junk food and overeating while they are pregnant. That’s not nutritional for mom or baby! I was practically OCD on what I ate and how much I exercised when I was pregnant with my son. I measured food and counted all my calories. Yea, I was that obsessive!
I’ve never counted calories, but I didn’t EVER weigh myself until I was pregnant. Because I wanted to make sure that I was gaining enough the right way. But I’m sure that because you kept to your nutrition levels in a healthy way, your son is going to have all the wonderful benefits because you did. Thanks for sharing Jamie!
Shawn says
Hi there!
I always wondered if this was the case.
Thanks for the great article on weight and babies.
I love your signature!
Shawn>>
Thanks Shawn! It’s certainly a factor. I know of many children that have other issues with their diets and already sedentary lifestyle. But from this perspective, yes, it does play a role.
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for sharing this. I had no idea a mother’s weight gain could be linked to obesity. I was quite small when I became pregnant with my first child. I was also constantly nauseous and the only thing that made it better was greasy fast food fries and burgers. I ended up gaining almost 70lbs. Luckily I was able to lose most of it and my daughter is not overweight (she is a stick actually). But I can totally see how this could be the case. I also know that extreme weight gain can lead to gestational diabetes.
You’re right Tanya, it leads to other issues as well. And sometimes genetics just take the entire thing under control and knock out even other risk factors, such as a mother’s weight gain. But the risks are still there. Thanks for sharing. Have a nice day!