How post-baby weight gain affects you

Moms, you may want to be extra cautious on your weight during and after pregnancy as a recent study has suggested that the unhealthy pregnancy weight gain can tip the scales for mothers seven years later.

For the first time, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health studied the association between gestational weight gain and long-term weight retention and body fat among a multi-ethnic urban population.

The results show that mothers with excessive weight gain during pregnancy weighed more and had greater body fat seven years after delivery if they began pregnancy at normal or slight overweight.

The findings suggest that excessive gestational weight gain has long-term consequences for women who are normal weight or a little overweight before pregnancy.

Gestational weight gain greater than the IOM recommendations has long-term implications for weight-related health, said researcher Elizabeth Widen, adding that the findings also suggest that normal and modestly overweight women may be more physiologically sensitive to effects of high gestational weight gain and, therefore, need to be further supported to gain weight appropriately during pregnancy.

The study is published online in the journal American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.