Mom's Pre-Pregnancy Weight Can Affect Health of Child for Life

What’s past is past, right? Not always, according to new a new study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions this week. It found that adults whose mothers were overweight or obese before pregnancy have a significantly higher risk — 90 percent — of cardiovascular disease or death than those whose moms were at a healthy weight.

“We can’t necessarily choose our parents — or their inherent less-than-optimal health risk factors,” Dr. David A. Friedman, chief of Heart Failure Services at North Shore-LIJ’s Franklin Hospital (who was not involved in the study), tells Yahoo Parenting.

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To make their conclusions, researchers poured over the data from 1971 to 2012 on of 879 participants, along with information about their mothers’ pre-pregnancy weight status. They found about 10 percent of the mothers had been overweight, with a BMI of 25 or higher, before pregnancy. During the 41-year span of the data, there were 193 cardiovascular events (coronary heart disease, stroke, or heart failure), 28 cardiovascular deaths, and 138 total deaths among the offspring, with those having overweight or obese mothers much more at risk.

Their own risk factors — including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol — did seem to account for some of that difference, noted study author Michael Mendelson in a press release.

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Fortunately, there are steps that adult children of obese mothers can take to improve their life expectancy now. “Focus on eating a heart-healthy diet incuding whole grains, lean proteins, low-fat dairy products, and a variety of fruits and vegetables,” Leigh Tracy, a dietitian at the Center for Endocrinology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, tells Yahoo Parenting. She recommends people at risk of heart disease consult their doctor to formulate an exercise plan, since statistics show that people who aren’t active are more likely to die from heart-related problems. Also, stay away from smoking and keep careful track of blood pressure and cholesterol.

According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, obese women account for more than half of pregnant women in the United States. So for obese women planning to get pregnant in the future, Friedman advises the simple monitoring of vitals throughout the pregnancy. He stresses treating higher-risk maternal chronic conditions, such as gestational diabetes and hypertension, “with proper cardiac screening, nutritional supportive counseling, and obstetrical weight management programs.”