weight tips for pregnant moms – For Obese, Weight Gained in Pregnancy May Not Leave – Yahoo! News
For Obese, Weight Gained in Pregnancy May Not Leave – Yahoo! News
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) — Obese women who gain more
than 15 pounds during pregnancy tend to retain much of it long after
delivery, a new U.S. study finds.
Oregon researchers collected data on almost 1,700 obese women (their
body mass index was 30 or higher) who gave birth between 2000 and
2005.
“We found that 70 percent of the women were exceeding the recommended
weight gain for women in their weight category,” said researcher Victor J.
Stevens, a senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health
Research. What's more, “these women had a lot of difficulty losing that
weight, and on average retained 40 percent of it [a year later],” he
said.
“That's a concern as they are already heavy enough to have health
problems related to their weight, and retaining significant weight gain
after pregnancy just makes it worse,” Stevens said.
For an obese woman, gaining too much weight during pregnancy also
increases the risk of complications, such as diabetes, hypertension,
preeclampsia, bigger babies, C-sections and birthing injuries.
The research was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and appears in the November issue of Obstetrics &
Gynecology.
In the study, Stevens' team noted the women's starting weight (between
six months before conception and 12 weeks after conception), delivery
weight and their later weight at eight and 18 months after giving
birth.
The researchers defined excess weight gain as more than 15 pounds.
Women who gained 15 to 25 pounds were twice as likely to retain 10
pounds of that weight over the next year and a half, compared to women who
had less weight gain. Those who packed on more than 35 pounds were almost
eight-times more likely to retain 10 pounds of that extra bulk, the team
found.
Younger women and first-time mothers were most likely to put on too
much weight, the researchers note.
“We would like to see better services for women to help them manage
their weight gain during pregnancy,” Stevens said.
Other experts agreed.
Samantha Heller, a registered dietitian, clinical nutritionist and
exercise physiologist in Fairfield, Conn., said for anyone who is already
overweight or obese when she gets pregnant, “it is going to be even more
difficult to lose the post-pregnancy weight.”
But moms-to-be should not diet during pregnancy, she said. “We don't
want a study like this to scare people into doing that. What we want
people to do is eat carefully and healthfully when they are pregnant, but
not overeat.”
Nor should new mothers try to lose the extra weight during the first
few months after delivery, Heller said.
“The women are exhausted, their body is still going through huge
changes,” she said. “If they are breast-feeding, we don't want them
restricting calories at a high level, because they need those extra
calories to produce breast milk.”
Because it is so difficult for many women to control weight gain during
and after pregnancy, Heller believes they need more support and
education.
To control weight gain during pregnancy, Kaiser Permanente offers these
tips:
Watch your diet. Each day have 8 to 12 servings of fruits and
vegetables, 3 servings of low-fat dairy, 5 to 9 ounces of protein-rich
foods, 6 to 10 servings of whole grains and 3 to 7 teaspoons of fats, such
as olive oil and nuts.
Eat regular meals and small healthy snacks between meals.
Cut fat to less than 30 percent of your calories.
Cut back on sweets and sugary drinks.
Keep a food diary to check for nutritional adequacy and portion
management.
Have only 100 to 300 calories a day more than you had before you
became pregnant.
Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. If you don't exercise, ask your
doctor how to start an exercise program.
More information
For more information on obesity, visit the U.S.
National Library of Medicine.
14 weeks pregnant and havent gained any weight?
im 14 weeks and havent gained any weight.ive actually lost 3 pounds or so, im 126 pounds. before i got pregnant i used to drink a lot of pop and eat pretty much whatever i wanted. now i drink a lot of water and milk, eat fruit and wheat bread, healthy cereal. could it just be because my diet is a lot better now? is this normal??
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