Excess Gestational Weight Gain Not Better for Child Bone Health

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 7, 2018 — Among women who are under/normal weight, gestational weight gain (GWG) is associated with slightly increased bone measures in offspring at age 7 years, but there is no effect for overweight/obese mothers, according to a study published online Nov. 7 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Teresa Monjardino, M.P.H., from the Universidade de Porto in Portugal, and colleagues analyzed prospective data from 2,167 mother-child pairs from the Generation XXI birth cohort who underwent whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at age 7 years. The authors assessed the relationship between GWG and offspring bone measures at age 7.

The researchers found that GWG correlated with slightly increased bone measures at age 7 years among under/normal-weight mothers (per 5 kg GWG: bone mineral content [BMC], 0.07 standard deviation [SD]; bone areal density [aBMD], 0.10 SD; size-corrected BMC [scBMC], 0.11 SD; and height, 0.05 SD). In overweight/obese mothers, GWG had no effect on bone measures (BMC, 0.02 SD; aBMD, 0.02 SD; scBMC, 0.01 SD; and height, 0.02 SD). There was no advantageous effect of gaining weight above the Institute of Medicine recommendations in either body mass index group.

“Our study results corroborate that there is no benefit in gaining weight above the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommendations for pregnancy weight gain for children’s bone mass, in both normal and overweight women prior to pregnancy,” Monjardino said in a statement.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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Posted: November 2018

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