A study led by scholars at the University of Iowa found that children born to overweight women developed more slowly over the first three months than babies born to women who were not overweight. The data showed that babies born to overweight women gained less weight and grew less in length than other babies. Importantly, babies of overweight mothers gained less fat mass, widely considered important to brain growth and development.
Katie Larson Ode, assistant clinical professor in paediatric endocrinology and diabetes at the University of Iowa and the lead author of the study, stated, “We’ve found these children are not growing normally. If what we have found is true, it implies that the obesity epidemic is harming children while they are still in utero and increases the importance of addressing the risk of obesity before females enter the child-bearing years, where the negative effects can affect the next generation.”