Jun 16, 2009
An article recently published by the Associated Press reports new pregnancy guidelines from the Institute of Medicine for how much weight women should gain during their pregnancy. CPC Fellow Dr. Anna Maria Siega-Riz, an associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at UNC, is quoted in the article and is co-author of the guidelines, which are the first national recommendations on pregnancy-related weight since 1990.
According to the article, “normal-weight woman should gain between 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy” as babies born to overweight mothers have a higher chance of a premature birth or becoming overweight in the future. Overweight women should gain between 15 to 25 pounds.
But pregnancy is not a time to lose weight, says Siega-Riz in the article. “It’s not, ‘Hey you gained enough, now you need to stop.’ Lets take stock of where you’re at and start gaining correctly.”
The guidelines also stress for “increased nutrition and exercise counseling during pregnancy,” according to the article.
Siega-Riz believes implementing the guidelines could possibly “change the whole culture about pregnancy” and eating as in studies of overweight women, “most… will tell you that they’ve never been told how much weight to gain,” she says.
Siega-Riz and the guidelines also appear in The News & Observer, U.S. News & World Report and CBC News.
All the articles are listed below:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iaaf08ds4FEpYnOp-oe8_qWcjzyQD98FEF500
http://www.newsobserver.com/150/story/1546853.html
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/05/28/pregnancy-weight-gain.html
Some media outlets may require free user registration or a subscription. Most articles are available at the URLs provided for a limited time, usually two weeks or less.