Obese women have an increased risk of having sick children

Ilya Vedmedenko, Naked Science

Scientists have found out how overweight mothers in the early stages of pregnancy affects the health of children. It turned out that the risk of birth defects increases in proportion to the weight gain.

It has long been known that being overweight does not add to a person's health, and obesity is considered a scourge of the XXI century. Experts from the Swedish Karolinska Institute decided to understand how a woman's weight in the early stages of pregnancy affects the health of offspring. The researchers examined several groups that included mothers with underweight (body mass index (BMI) <18.5), normal weight (BMI from 18.5 to 25), overweight (BMI from 25 to 30) and different classes of obesity: I (BMI from 30 to 35), II (from 35 up to 40) and III (≥40).

Article by Persson et al. Risk of major genital malformations in relation to maternal overweight and obesity severity: cohort study of 1.2 million singletons published in BMJ.

Scientists analyzed the health of more than 1.2 million babies born in Sweden between 2001 and 2014. At the same time, children and mothers with incomplete information, children with congenital malformations due to another external cause and children with chromosomal aberrations, genetic diseases and viral infections with a possible connection with the defects were excluded from the analysis.

It turned out that the weight of women had the most direct impact on the health of infants. Serious congenital abnormalities were diagnosed in 43550 children from the sample. At the same time, for overweight women, the risk of having a child with disabilities was 3.5%. For the first, second and third class of obesity, the risk was 3.8, 4.2 and 4.7%, respectively.

Graph from an article in BMJ – VM.

In particular, we are talking about violations in the work of the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Moreover, the connection of overweight and obesity with problems of the nervous system was the most pronounced. Also, with an increase in body weight, the risk of digestive disorders and the appearance of problems with the limbs and the functioning of the genitals increased.

Experts see the reason for all these problems in the altered hormonal background, inflammatory processes and inefficient delivery of nutrients to the baby through the placenta. The authors of the study say that women who have decided to give birth to a child should be encouraged to lead a healthy lifestyle, in particular, to monitor their weight.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  16.06.2017