According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, overweight and obese mothers had higher chances of giving birth to babies with birth defects.
Obesity is slowly becoming a problem globally
The researchers analyzed data on 1.2 million live births in Sweden, between 2001 and 2014 and found that when it comes to major birth defects, normal-weight mothers had a 3.4% risk of giving birth to a child with a congenital malformation. On the other hand, for the babies mothers who had obesity class I, II, and III, the risk was 3.8%, 4.2%, and 4.7% respectively.
Martina Persson, researcher in the clinical epidemiology unit at Karolinska Institutet shares, "Overweight and obesity in pregnancy increases risks of several severe complications in the mother and her child," and added that growing obesity rates are a big problem in different parts of the world.
According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, over 2 billion adults and children were found to be overweight or obese, which amounts to about one-third of the world's population.
A healthy weight during pregnancy is important
As with everything, maintaining a healthy weight is very important during pregnancy. While it's unavoidable that mothers do gain a lot of weight during their pregnancy, it's still important to keep the weight gain under control, as aside from an increased risk of birth defects, being overweight or obese during pregnancy can also cause the baby to become overweight during birth. And overweight newborns, even if born normal and healthy, can have a higher risk of heart and weight problems as they grow older.
A healthy weight has a lot of benefits for both the mother and the baby, so it's encouraged to watch what you eat, and engage in an active lifestyle, even during pregnancy. Keeping healthy during pregnancy can significantly reduce the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure in the mother, so it's very important to maintain a healthy weight even before getting pregnant.
Additionally, habits such as drinking and smoking should be stopped well before getting pregnant, as these habits carry significant risks for both the mother and the child, and can further cause birth defects among children.
Source: edition.cnn.com
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