Adult obesity linked to mum

By GREG NEWINGTON

WEIGHTY ISSUE: Kids of overweight mums have higher adult obesity risk, according to a new study.

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The kids of mums who stack on too many extra kilos during pregnancy are more likely to grow up to be obese, a new Australian study shows.

The University of Queensland research has found a link between an expectant mum's excess weight gain and a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) score in their child at age 21.

Dr Abdullah Al Mamun says aside from predisposing a child to be fatter in adulthood, the mother's weight during pregnancy held other long-term health implications.

"What we also found was elevated systolic blood pressure," Dr Mamun said.

"And if you have a high BMI and high blood pressure we know that you have a high risk cardiovascular disease ... stroke, and diabetes, some types of cancer as well."

The research was conducted as part of the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), a study of mothers and their children born at Brisbane's Mater Hospital from 1981-83 and who were then tracked over the years.

Dr Mamun looked at the cases of almost 2500 pairs mothers and their children up to age 21.

The average pregnancy weight gain for mothers participating in the study was 14.8kg -- an average of 0.4kg per week.

Dr Mamun found for every 0.1kg a mother put on over this, it added another 0.3 to their adult child's BMI score.

BMI is a calculation that takes in weight and height, and those with a rating up to 25 are considered to be of a healthy weight.

While previous studies have found a link between maternal weight gain and obesity risk in childhood, Dr Mamun's study confirmed this increased risk persisted into adulthood.

Dr Mamun said environmental and genetic factors could play a role in determining why these children gained more weight.

Chemical signals sent from the overweight mother to the baby while in the womb could also "programme" these children to be more susceptible to becoming overweight, he says.

"Our study supports other evidence suggesting that excessive pregnancy weight gain should be avoided for the health of both mother and child," Dr Mamun said.

"Further large studies are required to confirm the effect of gestational weight gain on a range of cardiovascular risk factors for their children."

The study is published in the latest edition of Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association.

AAP