Like the fabled Goldilocks, a woman’s weight gain during pregnancy may be a matter of striking a middling balance. New research from Kaiser Permanente shows that women who gain too much or too little weight during pregnancy may predispose their children for the future development of obesity. 
  
 Published Sunday in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the study is one of the largest to examine the effects of neonatal weight on childhood obesity. Researchers reviewed the electronic health records of more than 4,100 obstetrical patients from diverse racial backgrounds in Northern California. 
  
 After reviewing the records of children born to these women by ages 2 and 5, they found a much higher incidence of obesity among children born to mothers who’d gained more than the recommended weight during pregnancy, at 20.4 percent compared to a “normal” rate of 14.5 percent. Conversely, mothers who’d gained less than the recommended weight gave birth to children with a higher chance of developing obesity, at 19.5 percent. 
  
 And healthy moms especially should take note. Women of normal body mass index (BMI) who gained less than the recommended amount of weight were 63 percent more likely than others to bear a child who became overweight or obese. Likewise, women with normal BMI who failed to gain the recommended weight during pregnancy were 80 percent more likely to birth a baby who develops a weight problem, senior researcher Monique M. Hedderson said in a news release. 
  
 "The stronger association we found among normal weight women who gained too much or too little weight during pregnancy suggests that perhaps weight gain in pregnancy may have an impact on the child that is independent of genetic factors," Hedderson said. 
  
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 The womb apparently sets the pace for certain metabolic functions, says study leader Sneha Sridhar. "Gaining either too little or too much weight in pregnancy may permanently affect mechanisms that manage energy balance and metabolism in the offspring, such as appetite control and energy expenditure," she said. "This could potentially have long-term effects on the child's subsequent growth and weight." 
  
 The researchers used BMI and pregnancy weight-gain recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit think-tank based in Washington, D.C. For obese women with BMIs of 30 or higher, health experts there recommend neonatal weight gain of 11 to 20 pounds, with 15 to 25 pounds for overweight women. Women who are underweight should gain the most at 28 to 40 pounds. 
  
 The researchers also defined childhood obesity at ages 2 and 5 as greater than the 85th percentile of child growth standards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ||||| About 1 in 4 women now are obese at the time they become pregnant. Credit: Pregnancy photo via Shutterstock 
  
 Women who gain either more or less weight than recommended during pregnancy may be more likely to have an overweight child, a new study has found. 
  
 Researchers looked at health records of 4,145 women, and the medical records of their children between ages 2 and 5. 
  
 They found that among women who had a normal body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy, those who gained less than the recommended amount (of 25 to 35 pounds) were 63 percent more likely to have a child who became overweight or obese, compared with those who gained the recommended amount. [7 Ways Pregnant Women Affect Babies] 
  
 Similarly, women with a normal BMI before pregnancy who gained more weight than recommended were 80 percent more likely to have an overweight or obese child, according to the study published today (April 14) in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 
  
 "Gaining either too little or too much weight in pregnancy may permanently affect mechanisms that manage energy balance and metabolism in the offspring, such as appetite control and energy expenditure," said study researcher Sneha Sridhar, a public health researcher at Kaiser Permanente division of research in Oakland, Calif. 
  
 "This could potentially have long-term effects on the child's subsequent growth and weight," Sridhar said. 
  
 Previous studies have shown that gaining too much weight during pregnancy can increase the risk of gestational diabetes for the mother, as well as increase the risk of health problems for the child, such as childhood obesity. But other studies have also shown that gaining too little weight during pregnancy can lead to complications such as preterm birth and small infants. 
  
 In the study, the researchers also found that among all women who gained more than the recommended weight during pregnancy, 20.4 percent had children who were overweight or obese, compared with 19.5 percent of women who gained less than the recommended weight and 14.5 percent of women who gained weight within the guidelines. 
  
 Women in the study were members of Kaiser Permanente health care plans in Northern California, and were racially diverse. They had completed a health survey between 2007 and 2009 and subsequently had a baby, the researchers said. 
  
 As for the children, the researchers considered a child overweight or obese if he or she had a BMI greater than 85 percent of children in their age group, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention child growth standards. 
  
 Obesity is partly genetic, but the finding that even normal weight women were more likely to have overweight children if they gained too much or too little weight during pregnancy, suggests that weight conditions during pregnancy may affect the child independently of genetic factors, said Monique Hedderson, another researcher on the study. 
  
 In fact, the impact of inappropriate weight gain during pregnancy on child's weight appeared to be stronger among normal weight women than among those who were obese or underweight before pregnancy, the researchers said. 
  
 According to the Institute of Medicine, the amount of weight that women are recommended to gain during pregnancy depends on their BMI before pregnancy. Obese women who have a BMI of 30 or greater are recommended to gain between 11 and 20 pounds during pregnancy, and overweight women (with a BMI between 25 and 29) are recommended to gain 15 to 25 pounds. Underweight women (with a BMI less than 18.5) are recommended to gain 28 to 40 pounds. 
  
 Email Bahar Gholipour or follow her @alterwired. Follow us @LiveScience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science. |||||

Write a summary.
– The amount of weight a mom-to-be gains during pregnancy may have a link to the weight of the child she bears, a new study finds. Gaining either too much or too little weight can both result in a greater chance that child will be obese, LiveScience reports. The research followed 4,145 women and their kids between ages 2 and 5. What they found: Women with a normal body mass index before pregnancy are advised to gain 25 to 35 pounds; those who gained less were 63% more likely to have an overweight or obese kid. Moms in that group who gained more than that recommended amount were 80% more likely to have an overweight or obese kid. Of all women who gained less than the recommended amount of weight, some 19.5% had overweight or obese kids. Of those who gained more, 20.4% had kids in that category; that's compared to 14.5% of kids whose moms gained the recommended amount of weight. Why? "Gaining either too little or too much weight in pregnancy may permanently affect mechanisms that manage energy balance and metabolism in the offspring, such as appetite control and energy expenditure," a researcher says. The weight-gain recommendations came from the Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC, Medical Daily notes.