ISSN 1662-4009 (online)

ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology (2020) 17 15.3 | DOI: 10.1530/ey.17.15.3

ESPEYB17 15. Editors’ choice (1) (18 abstracts)

15.3. An association between maternal weight change in the year before pregnancy and infant birth weight: ELFE, a French national birth cohort study

Lecorguillé M , Jacota M , de Lauzon-Guillain B , Forhan A , Cheminat M , Charles MA & Heude B



To read the full abstract: PLoS Med. 2019 Aug 20;16(8):e1002871. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002871.

Women (n =16,395; 26% overweight or obese) from the ELFE French national birth cohort were categorised into 3 groups by self-reported weight change during the year before pregnancy: weight loss >5 kg; stable weight; and weight gain >5 kg.

Among women with BMI <25 kg/m2 at conception, offspring birth weight was significantly higher in those reporting pre-pregnancy weight loss – this surprising association was explained by their higher rate of weight gain during pregnancy.

Among women who were overweight or obese at conception, birth weight was not associated with pre-pregnancy weight loss. Any direct effect on lower birth weight was cancelled out by their higher gestational weight gain, which was even higher if weight loss before pregnancy was reported to result from restrictive dieting.

While attention is shifting towards optimising maternal health and weight status prior to conception, the novel findings of this powerful analysis show that, importantly, efforts at weight control need to be continued during pregnancy. It is becoming well established that many homeostatic processes keep our body weights relatively stable and, in particular, act to promote weight regain after weight loss, even (unhelpfully) in overweight and obese individuals. These data show that the same applies during pregnancy. Restrictive dieting and weight loss before pregnancy may be cancelled out, or even turned to harmful effects, by weight rebound during pregnancy.

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