Guidelines For Recommended Weight Gain During Pregnancy

Weight Gain During Pregnancy

The Institute of Medicinethis fall is expected to begin gathering scientific evidence to examineguidelines for how much weight pregnant women should gain, according toIOM spokesperson Christine Stencel, the AP/South Coast Standard-Times reports.

Accordingto current guidelines, which IOM announced in 1990, women with low bodymass indexes should gain up to 40 pounds during pregnancy, women withnormal BMIs should gain 25 to 35 pounds, and most obese women shouldgain about 15 pounds. In 2003, about 25% of pregnant women in the U.S.gained more than 40 pounds during pregnancy, compared with 20% in 1990,according to the AP/Standard-Times.

According to the March of Dimes,women who gain too much weight during pregnancy have an increased riskof complications, including birth defects, problems during labor anddelivery, fetal death and large infants (Yee, AP/South Coast Standard-Times, 8/15). A study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,analyzed 1,044 pairs of mothers and their three-year-old children andcompared how much weight the mother had gained during pregnancy and theBMI of their children. The study found that women with excessive oradequate weight gain were about four times more likely than women withinadequate weight gain to have a child who was overweight by age three (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/6).

According to the AP/Standard-Times,other countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, have similarguidelines as the U.S. Japanese guidelines recommend that women gain 10pounds less than the IOM-recommended amount.

"The reality is fortoo long we are telling pregnant women to take it easy duringpregnancy, be confined and to eat for two," Raul Artal of St. LouisUniversity School of Medicine said, adding, "This has been one factor in causing the epidemic of overweight and obesity" in the U.S. Naomi Stotland from the University of California-San Franciscosaid some experts are concerned that if women are encouraged to gainless weight during pregnancy, they will not gain enough weight.

Experts said that women should follow current IOM guidelines until new guidelines are announced, the AP/Standard-Times reports (AP/South Coast Standard-Times, 8/15).
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