Obese women are at high health risk and dieting during pregnancy can help prevent complications. Excessive weight gain during the weeks of pregnancy can increase the risk of developing diabetes or preeclampsia and causing birth defects. However, these risk factors can be circumvented by limiting weight gain through appropriate nutritional management.
Benefits of diet during pregnancy
Being overweight or obese can be associated with various risk factors. Among the biggest health problems are:Gestational diabetes and birth defects, as well as preeclampsia and sleep apnea.
Women with gestational diabetes as well as their babies are at high risk later in lifeto develop type 2 diabetes. This also significantly increases the chance of a cesarean section. Similarly, preeclampsia, which is defined as high blood pressure, can cause serious health complications such as liver and kidney failure. This could also lead to seizures (eclampsia) and stroke. The risk of preeclampsia is increased by sleep apnea. This is characterized primarily by interrupted breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea can also lead to lung and heart disease and extreme fatigue.
Being overweight can also put the baby at risk. Overweight women have a higher risk of miscarriage than pregnant women of normal weight. Additionally, obesity is linked to premature birth, stillbirth, and excessive blood loss after delivery. Another common problem for obese women is the birth of high birth weight babies (macrosomia). Such babies are more prone to obesity in the future. In addition, babies born to obese mothers have a higher risk of developing birth defects, including defects in the neural tube.
High risks
High weight gain is the main cause of obesity-related complications. More than 50% of obese women gain excess weight, which is significantly higher than existing weight gain guidelines. Aside from pregnancy-related complications, excessive weight gain can increase the risk of maintaining postpartum weight, which is considered a leading cause of the female obesity epidemic. According to the Institute of Medicine, USA, healthy, overweight and obese women should limit weight gain to 11.5-16 kg, 7-11.5 kg and 5-9 kg, respectively.
The best way to reduce the risk of obesity-related complications is to lose weight before planning to become pregnant. If you only lose 5-7% of your current body weight, this can be done effectively by following a healthy diet during pregnancy. Nevertheless, several guidelines have been developed for overweight and obese women to control weight gain.
Healthy eating
According to the British National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, pregnant women's daily meals should contain mainly starchy and fiber-rich foods and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Fried and sugary foods should be avoided. Above all, dieting or drastic calorie reduction should always be avoided as it can be harmful to the baby.
OnePrevent gestational diabetes, it is better to eat foods with low glycemic index and avoid refined carbohydrates and saturated fats. This can significantly help improve glucose tolerance and overcome insulin resistance. In addition, consumption of foods rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is known to reduce the risk of obesity in children.
Taking supplements such as folic acid and vitamin D can also help manage obesity-related complications. For example, folic acid helps reduce the risk of defects in the baby. Overweight women are recommended to take 5 mg of folic acid daily until the 13th week of pregnancy. Most overweight women lack vitamin D. Therefore, it is also important to take 10 micrograms of vitamin D daily.
