The Link Between Being Overweight During Pregnancy and Risk of Allergies to Baby

Gaining weight is one of the changes all pregnant women will have to go through during their expecting period. But gaining excessive weight can have a number of disadvantages. Some studies suggest that gaining too much weight during pregnancy can result in allergies in the new-born child.

Though some allergies are prone to serious complications, it is best to try to avoid it by monitoring it properly. According to The New York Times, excessive weight gain during pregnancy can increase the risk of childhood asthma and allergy.

Chinese researchers of JAMA Network Open has studied 15,145 mother and child pairs in Shanghai to track the relation between the gestational weight gain and the child health over an average of eight-year-old.

During the study, they found that the children of the mothers who gained around 33 to 55 pounds weight (more than recommended weight of 22 to 33 pounds) has 13 percent increased risk of asthma, allergic rhinitis of food or drug allergy and increased 9 percent risk of eczema.

The paper added that if the woman gained more than 55 pounds, the risk of childhood asthma increases to 22 percent, 14 percent for allergic rhinitis, 15 percent for eczema and for a food or drug allergy by 21 percent.

The chances of allergies are even higher in women who are overweight before pregnancy.

Some adjustments considered during the studies include maternal income, smoking, alcohol consumption, a family history of allergy and other factors. Yiting Chen, lead author, said that about 25 percent of the global population has allergies and anything to minimize the risk needs to be considered.

He added that early effective measures can reduce the occurrence of allergies, even if the child is genetically allergic. Not all allergies are at life-threatening, but avoiding is the best way to live a healthy and comfortable life.