Diabetes Health in the News Podcast: Excess Weight in Pre-Pregnancy Connected to Heavier Children

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Recent findings from a British study have provided an explanation for why poor children are more likely to be overweight or obese than other kids – mothers who were overweight during pregnancy and mothers who smoked throughout their pregnancy. These findings resulted from monitoring the weight of about 10,000 elementary-aged children, and information was also obtained from mothers about pregnancy, education, and other issues.

The study found that 33% of kids of mothers who were less educated were overweight. This was compared to 20% of kids for mothers who had a college degree. Smoking and being overweight during pregnancy also resulted in about 40% of the difference in the rates of childhood obesity among all socioeconomic classes.

These findings were published by the Archives of Disease in Childhood on May 9, 2016.