NEW DELHI New Delhi: According to a study, fetuses of women who gain excess weight in the first trimester of pregnancy are likely to have excess body fat distribution. The study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealed that fetuses may have more fat in their upper arms and abdomen in the womb. The findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, may be important for developing early intervention strategies to prevent adult obesity associated with overweight birth. .
Excessive weight gain early in life is a known risk factor for adult obesity and related conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. For the study, researchers analyzed data from an earlier study of more than 2,600 singleton pregnancies. This included information on maternal weight before and during pregnancy and three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound scans (up to five) during pregnancy. The results showed that fetuses from pregnant women with excessive weight gain — defined as more than 2 kilograms (about 4.4 pounds) in the first trimester — had larger abdominal circumferences.
Compared with women who gained adequate weight during pregnancy, these babies also had a greater abdominal area in the womb and greater thickness of fetal arm fat. Additionally, the team reported that fetuses in the group with excessive weight gain during pregnancy Arm girth and abdominal measurements remained high by the end of the 2000s, even when weight gain during the second and third trimesters was not considered excessive.
In contrast, most previous studies have not examined 3D measurements of the fetus during pregnancy and have linked total weight gain during pregnancy to birth weight, not just in the first trimester. “The findings suggest that “That the timing of weight gain, rather than total weight gain, may be important for developing efforts to prevent excess fetal size and reduce the risk of heart disease and other conditions later in life.”
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