A new study shows that a child’s weight may be influenced by the mother even
before the child is actually born. The study, conducted by researchers from Ohio
State University (OSU) College of Nursing and School of Public Health, appears
in the December 5, 2005 issue of the journal Pediatrics and was supported by
the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), one of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH).
The study showed that a child is more likely to be overweight at a very young
age — at 2 or 3 years old — if the mother was overweight or obese before she
became pregnant. The data also indicate that other prenatal characteristics,
particularly race, ethnicity, and maternal smoking during pregnancy, place a
child at greater risk of becoming overweight. Specifically, a child is at greater
risk of becoming overweight if born to a black or Hispanic mother, or to a mother
who smoked during her pregnancy, according to the study.
Pamela Salsberry, Ph.D., the study’s lead author and an associate professor
at OSU, noted that “there’s a good chance that an overweight child will stay
overweight for the rest of his or her life.” “A child who is overweight by her
second birthday is more likely to be overweight at a later age,” said Dr. Salsberry. “Prevention
of childhood obesity needs to begin before a woman becomes pregnant,” she added.
“Dr. Salsberry’s work underscores the importance of prenatal care and how the
health habits of the mother prior to and during pregnancy may impact the health
of her child through the early years of childhood and possibly through adulthood,” said
NINR Director Dr. Patricia A. Grady. “Understanding how these factors may contribute
to obesity very early in life will better equip us to fight the increasing problem
of obesity in America and help to prevent diseases associated with obesity, such
as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of cancer” Dr. Grady added.
The researchers analyzed the data for 3,022 children included in the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth's (NLSY) Child-Mother file. In this study, children
were weighed at three age intervals — 3, 5 and 7 years. The survey also gathered
information on each child's race and ethnicity as well as the mother’s pre-pregnancy
weight. Each mother was also asked if she had smoked while pregnant and if she
had breast-fed her child.
Children were considered overweight if their body mass index (BMI) was greater
than or equal to the 95th percentile for their age and gender. BMI is a calculation
that takes into account both height and weight. A child in the 95th percentile
for his or her weight is heavier than 95 percent of children at that age.
The study showed a significant relationship between a mother's weight prior
to pregnancy and her child's weight. A mother's weight within one to two months
before she became pregnant had the greatest impact on a child's weight at all
three age intervals.