Pregnancy and post-delivery maternal weight changes and overweight in preschool children

- Higher gestational weight gain is associated with higher odds of child overweight.
- Post-delivery weight change is positively associated with odds of child overweight.
- These relationships are driven by children with overweight/obese mothers.
- New approaches may be needed pre- and post-delivery to reduce child overweight.

ObjectivesHigh maternal weight before and during pregnancy contributes to child obesity. To assess the additional role of weight change after delivery, we examined associations between pre- and post-pregnancy weight changes and preschooler overweight.MethodsSample: 4359 children from the Children and Young Adults of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) born to 2816 NLSY mothers between 1979 and 2006 and followed to age 4-5 years old. Exposures: gestational weight gain (GWG) and post-delivery maternal weight change (PDWC). Outcome: child overweight (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 85th percentile).ResultsAdjusted models suggested that both increased GWG (OR: 1.08 per 5 kg GWG, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.16) and excessive GWG (OR: 1.29 versus adequate GWG, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.56) were associated with preschooler overweight. Maternal weight change after delivery was also independently associated with child overweight (OR: 1.12 per 5 kg PDWC, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.21). Associations were stronger among children with overweight or obese mothers.ConclusionsIncreased maternal weight gain both during and after pregnancy predicted overweight in preschool children. Our results suggest that healthy post-pregnancy weight may join normal pre-pregnancy BMI and adequate GWG as a potentially modifiable risk factor for child overweight.