Researchers often say that women who gain more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy and or fail to shed the excess pounds by the time their babies are 5 months old are mosr probably to revive those extra pounds 8 years later. These findings come from researchers from University of Texas, who say their study is the first to examine how body weight during and shortly after pregnancy impacts weight and body mass index over the long haul. No study to date has looked at the effect of weight gain and weight loss postpartum on long-term weight changes a decade after pregnancy.
The study included 400 women who were first estimated for weight gain during their pregnancies. They were followed for an average of 7.5 years. The average weight gain for the group at the end of the study was 6.0 kilograms. Women who gained less than the recommended amount of weight during their pregnancies were, on average, 4.5 kilograms heavier at the last follow up, while those who gained the prescribed amount were 5.9 kilograms heavier. Women who gained more weight than recommended were 8.4 kilograms heavier.The study also showed exercise and breastfeeding had a positive impact on long-term weight gain. Women who breastfed for four months or more or participated in aerobic exercise during the postpartum period weighed comparitively less at the end of the study than those who did not engage in either of these behaviors.
