According to a research conducted by Penn State College of Medicine, overweight women tend to put on extra weight due to improper advice on healthy weight gain or exercises during pregnancy, reports Medical News Today-MNT.
Most women put on weight during pregnancy and cannot lose it after the delivery leading to obesity.
"Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is associated with weight retention after delivery and is a positive predictor of obesity after pregnancy," Dr. Cynthia Chuang, associate professor of medicine and public health sciences said in a report in MNT. "Excessive gestational weight is particularly concerning for overweight and obese women given their already increased risk for pregnancy complications."
The standard guidelines that should be advised on weight gain during pregnancy for women with normal weight is 25 to 35 pounds, overweight women are advised to gain 15 to 25 and obese women less than 20 pounds. Obesity is having a body mass index-BMI more than 29.
According to a survey conducted during the study, out of 12 overweight and 12 obese women after they delivered their first child, all the overweight women exceeded the recommended pregnancy weight gain while 9 out of 12 obese women exceeded the recommended pregnancy weight gain.
"Women received little, if any, feedback regarding whether their weight gain during pregnancy was healthy or not," Dr. Chuang said. "Some women who received their care at obstetrical group practices and were seen by different providers in the same practice even received conflicting advice."
Women usually find information about health tips and weight gains during pregnancy through books, the Internet, magazines or someone close who are mothers. But most women prefer their health advisors recommend about the same. Most women are advised by their providers to exercise and few aren't advised of any, which is often conflicted. The standard exercise advised is stretching and walking, according to MNT.
"This advice was interpreted to mean that they should not exercise at all," Dr. Chuang said, according to MNT. "Unfortunately, this is in conflict with the federal physical activity guidelines that recommend 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise in healthy pregnant women, even in previously inactive women."
The findings were reported in a recent edition of Women's Health Issues.
