Extra Pregnancy Pounds Lead to Heart Risk for Kids

Put down that pickle-covered pizza, prego!

A new study by Abigail Fraser of the University of Bristol says too much pregnancy weight gain raises the odds that "your child will show signs of heart disease by age 9."

According to the study, published in the June 1 issue of Circulation, "Children's heart risk increased with any weight gain during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, and with any weight gain over 1.1 pounds per week during weeks 14 to 36 of pregnancy." Any weight gain… into the second trimester?! Oh man, I can remember housing a salad, roll, steak, potatoes and veggies at TGI Friday's during week five - the day I told my Dad I was pregnant. (The steak was made with Jack Daniels. Which is probably why my daughter fell all the time while she was learning to walk.)

After all was said and done over the course of my pregnancy, I gained about 30 pounds. The Institute of Medicine's guidelines suggest women of normal weight gain 25-35 pounds and overweight women gain 15-25 pounds while pregnant.

WebMD reports that "the reason why these kids have a high heart risk by 9 years of age is their fat mass. But exactly why children tend to be fat if their mothers gain too much weight during pregnancy isn't clear." It seems pretty obvious, right?

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