Mom's Obesity Linked With Birth Defects

[Marilyn. 340]

I do eat unhealthy foods once in awhile but not often...

I don't drink a lot of soda, maybe one can a week, if that..... I drink mostly water.....

but I guess I would be considered obese according to my BMI....

ok that is not exactly what I wanted to say but I lost my train of thought

I'm right there with you...if people looked up the BMI info, a lot more people would be obese than they think. Because we imagine obese as people who weigh over 300lbs, not as most of us walking around with extra meat on our bones.

I know I could stand to lose a few pounds.... one area where I am trying to cut back is snacking in the evening....

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Seems like everyone is obsessed with obesity lately. Want something to blame for this condition or that condition? Blame obesity. Want to blame society's ills on something? Blame obesity. Just wondering...how many NORMAL babies are born to overweight women?

Exactly. I personally know overweight women who had very healthy babies.

I agree that not being overweight is better than being overweight, but I am overweight and the risks I face every pregnant woman faces.

Many birth defects are linked to a deficiency of folic acid, which the articles does mention, but that happens in any weight range not just for overweight people, especially if someone is not taking their prenatal vitamins. The most important time for folic acid is the first couple months of pregnancy.

And true, it's not just overweight or obese people who eat #######. I know thin people who eat a lot of #######. Not eating ####### is better for everyone, I agree with that of course, but the difference between a thin person and an obese person can sometimes be the difference of 1-2 extra snacks a day, built up over a long period of time.

An example:

"If you consumed 100 calories more per day than your body needs (the equivalent of 1 glass of juice or 2 small plain cookies), and consumed this small excess every single day, in 1 year you would have consumed 36,500 excess calories, enough to gain 10 pounds. In 3 years you would be 30 pounds overweight on just 100 extra calories per day. ...." And so on...(http://www.mindspring.com/~drwarren/obesity.htm)

So it doesn't mean the people are sitting around all day eating ####### who are overweight or obese, they are just eating a little more ####### than everyone else. Or they could be eating healthy but just too much of it. Some consider obese only 30lbs overweight...that's not really that much, think of a women who goes from 120lbs to 150lbs, they might not even look that big, not what you would think of as obese. Obese doesn't always mean 400lbs. Anyway that's my rant.

Excellent points, Stina! Although I'd say that obesity is an indication that the mother may have other physical problems that can complicate the pregnancy, it's not always the case.

[GeordieWife 1]

I'm gonna go have some wine and eat cheesecake.

I'm done having babies (got 3).

I don't smoke, but if I did, I'd have one now too.

[trailmix 77]

I'm gonna go have some wine and eat cheesecake.

I'm done having babies (got 3).

I don't smoke, but if I did, I'd have one now too.

[Fandango 1,439]

I know this really large woman, and I'm not sure if she's pregnant or just really heavy.

[chri'stina 190]

Seems like everyone is obsessed with obesity lately. Want something to blame for this condition or that condition? Blame obesity. Want to blame society's ills on something? Blame obesity. Just wondering...how many NORMAL babies are born to overweight women?

Exactly. I personally know overweight women who had very healthy babies.

I agree that not being overweight is better than being overweight, but I am overweight and the risks I face every pregnant woman faces.

Many birth defects are linked to a deficiency of folic acid, which the articles does mention, but that happens in any weight range not just for overweight people, especially if someone is not taking their prenatal vitamins. The most important time for folic acid is the first couple months of pregnancy.

And true, it's not just overweight or obese people who eat #######. I know thin people who eat a lot of #######. Not eating ####### is better for everyone, I agree with that of course, but the difference between a thin person and an obese person can sometimes be the difference of 1-2 extra snacks a day, built up over a long period of time.

An example:

"If you consumed 100 calories more per day than your body needs (the equivalent of 1 glass of juice or 2 small plain cookies), and consumed this small excess every single day, in 1 year you would have consumed 36,500 excess calories, enough to gain 10 pounds. In 3 years you would be 30 pounds overweight on just 100 extra calories per day. ...." And so on...(http://www.mindspring.com/~drwarren/obesity.htm)

So it doesn't mean the people are sitting around all day eating ####### who are overweight or obese, they are just eating a little more ####### than everyone else. Or they could be eating healthy but just too much of it. Some consider obese only 30lbs overweight...that's not really that much, think of a women who goes from 120lbs to 150lbs, they might not even look that big, not what you would think of as obese. Obese doesn't always mean 400lbs. Anyway that's my rant.

Excellent points, Stina! Although I'd say that obesity is an indication that the mother may have other physical problems that can complicate the pregnancy, it's not always the case.

I agree.

[Kajikit 65]

And did they take any account of the percentage of those women who were (or had recently been) crash-dieting or otherwise trying to lose weight in an unhealthy manner at the time they became pregnant, and who were nutritionally deficient because they were told that dieting was the right thing to do?

[trailmix 77]

And did they take any account of the percentage of those women who were (or had recently been) crash-dieting or otherwise trying to lose weight in an unhealthy manner at the time they became pregnant, and who were nutritionally deficient because they were told that dieting was the right thing to do?

Good point!