Childhood Obesity Link to First 24 Weeks.

• Position: PREGNANCY WEIGHT GAIN

Weight gain in the first two trimesters has the greatest impact on infant size at birth, according to a study published in Obesity, a publication of The Obesity Society, Silver Spring, Md. The study is the largest-ever analysis of the effect that weight gain in early pregnancy has on infant size, examining 16,218 pregnant mothers throughout the first, second, and third trimesters to determine the risk of infants' size at birth.

Results found weight gain before 24 weeks--regardless of the weight gain later--had the greatest impact on infant size. Infants born to women with weight gain that exceeds the guidelines of the National Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC, for weight gain during pregnancy, prior to 24 weeks, were 2.5 times more likely to be born large.

Maternal obesity and weight gain in pregnancy strongly have been linked to the development of overweight and obese children, although few studies have examined in-depth gestational weight gain with infant birth weight and childhood obesity...