Impacts of gestational weight gain seen 50+ years later

Gestational weight gain might have implications that extend beyond the pregnancy window to long-term health, according to a study published in the Nov. 18 issue of The Lancet.

Stefanie N. Hinkle, Ph.D., from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues assessed whether gestational weight change was associated with mortality more than 50 years later. The analysis included 46,042 participants in the Collaborative Perinatal Project (1959 to 1965).

The researchers found that for participants with underweight before pregnancy (body mass index [BMI], <18.5 kg/m²), weight change above recommendations was associated with increased cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.84). For participants with normal prepregnancy weight (BMI, 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m²), weight change above recommendations was associated with increased all-cause (HR, 1.09) and cardiovascular (HR, 1.20) mortality. Among participants with overweight prepregnancy (BMI, 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m²), weight change above recommendations was associated with elevated all-cause (HR, 1.12) and diabetes-related (HR, 1.77) mortality. No meaningful relationships could be drawn between gestational weight change and mortality for prepregnancy obesity (BMI, ≥30.0 kg/m²). In people with normal prepregnancy weight, weight change below recommended levels was associated with reduced diabetes-related mortality (HR, 0.62).

"This study's novel findings support the importance of achieving healthy gestational weight gain within recommendations, adding that the implications might extend beyond the pregnancy window to long-term health, including cardiovascular and diabetes-related mortality," the authors write.