Factors during pregnancy may affect early childhood weight

In a study published in Pediatric Obesity, a child's high and increasing body mass index between ages two and six years was strongly associated with pre-pregnancy obesity and overweight in the child's mother; modestly associated with maternal type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes that required medication, and excessive weight gain during pregnancy; and slightly associated with breastfeeding for six months or less.

The study included 71,892 children born in 2007-2011. The findings highlight the importance of public health efforts to reduce maternal obesity and may be useful for understanding the impact of maternal diabetes during pregnancy on childhood obesity.

"Our results highlight the importance of public health efforts to reduce maternal obesity and provide important information to understand the impact of maternal diabetes during pregnancy on childhood obesity," the authors wrote.