How Early Should Obesity Prevention Start?

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 369; no. 23; pp. 2173 - 2175
• Main Authors: Gillman, Matthew W, Ludwig, David S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 05.12.2013
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Babies; Birth weight; Body weight; Child Development - physiology; Diabetes, Gestational - therapy; DNA methylation; Epigenetics; Female; Humans; Infant; Obesity; Obesity - prevention & control; Overweight; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Risk assessment; Risk factors; Weight Gain; Womens health; United States > US
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1310577

Overweight or obese women are likely to gain excessive weight during pregnancy. This increases their risk of disease and potentially causes higher adiposity in their offspring, who may grow up to perpetuate the intergenerational cycle of obesity and chronic disease. Obesity has pervaded the United States and is spreading throughout the world. Following in its wake is type 2 diabetes, which will affect at least half a billion people worldwide by 2030. A majority of U.S. women of childbearing age are overweight or obese (as defined by a body-mass index [BMI, the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters] >25). These women are likely to gain excessive weight when they're pregnant, making it harder for them to return to their prepregnancy weight after delivery. Postpartum weight retention not only portends increased lifelong risks for obesity-related . . .