Fat moms = fat kids??

LesleeBeAlive

i personally don't think any woman more than 40 pounds overweight has any business being pregnant in the first place. it's selfish and irresponsible.

young women, if you want to have children someday take care of your body now and get in shape.

nanainkent

My sister in law and her husband are both thin and can eat what ever they like and do not exercise. Thier daughter was born a chubby baby and became a very overweight child and adult. (morbidly obese). Me and my ex husband are both over weight by 100 and 50 respectively. My daughter and her boyfriend are both obese. Her son is Thin and eats everything and still gains no weight. He is now 16 and still the same. And he plays video games in his free time so he doesn't excercise. Funny when he was younger people and other kids used to tell him he needed to eat something and try to tell us to feed him more. What is funny is he according to the doctors was healthy weight and normal for the charts. There is becoming so many overweight children that it seems it has now become the norm. At least with the ones who were commenting to us.

daisiemae123

i personally don't think any woman more than 40 pounds overweight has any business being pregnant in the first place. it's selfish and irresponsible.

young women, if you want to have children someday take care of your body now and get in shape.

I guess that makes me selfish and irresponsible. So, is my wanting to lose weight and be in better shape for him as he grows the selfish or the irresponsible part? Guess I should have had him back in my twenties when I was skinny and partying.

SoViLicious

i personally don't think any woman more than 40 pounds overweight has any business being pregnant in the first place. it's selfish and irresponsible.

young women, if you want to have children someday take care of your body now and get in shape.

Wow! That is something there! I personally believe that everyone has a choice. Had I not had my children when I was morbidly obese at the age of 20,22,and 24, I would never have had children. They are now 18, 20 , 22. All healthy weight children with no problems regarding their health.

It took me ages to lose the weight and to realize that I needed to lose the weight. I can't have kids now, had to have a hysterectomy at 26.

Your comment is just uninformed and really obnoxious.

She is clearly here to start trouble.

vim_n_vigor

My mom is 5'5'' and was 95lbs when she got pregnant with me. She was probably closer to 115 when she had my brother. We are both obese. Our children are all rail thin. Guess there are always exceptions...

Rynoman2k3

Have you seen Honey Boo Boo? ... Nuff said...

penrbrown

Have you seen Honey Boo Boo? ... Nuff said...

Honey Who Who?

bcattoes

There is no such thing as a fat gene. Your genetics have little to nothing to do with how fat you are or can be. My mother is obese. Has been all her life. I may have been the chubby girl growing up, but I never have been fat due to something out of my control. It's the habits and choices you make with food and exercise that really matter.

Nobody is saying weight gain is out of our control. Some further food for thought:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-causes/genes-and-obesity/index.html

In 2007, researchers using genome-wide association studies identified the first obesity-related gene variants in the so-called "fat mass and obesity-associated" (FTO) gene on chromosome 16. (4, 5) These gene variants are fairly common, and people who carry one have a 20 to 30 percent higher risk of obesity than people who do not. The second obesity-associated gene variant that researchers identified lies on chromosome 18, close to the melanocortin-4 receptor gene (the same gene responsible for a rare form of monogenic obesity).
...
Work on obesity-related gene–environment interactions is still in its infancy. The evidence so far suggests that genetic predisposition is not destiny—many people who carry so-called "obesity genes" do not become overweight. Rather, it seems that eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise may counteract some of the gene-related obesity risk.

AEFidgets

i personally don't think any woman more than 40 pounds overweight has any business being pregnant in the first place. it's selfish and irresponsible.

young women, if you want to have children someday take care of your body now and get in shape.

Really? Perhaps we should also prevent pregnancy for anyone with a genetic condition, or an affinity for tattoos, or perhaps for religious or political reasons. Yes that would work, NOT!!!!!!!

Brianna72994

Have you seen Honey Boo Boo? ... Nuff said...

Yeah but those kids are overweight because the mother is always feeding her kids spaghetti with butter and ketchup. Thats not really the healthiest.

Mr_Bad_Example

From the article in question - "We know our genetic makeup influences our children's risks -- but so can our environment," foundation spokeswoman Dr. Beth Abramson said in a news release.

Genetics and environment work hand in hand. If a child has a higher chance of being overweight due to genes, then it makes sense to adapt the environment in a way that helps to minimize that risk (which is what SoVictoRRious says she is doing in her posts).

Something else to keep in mind (especially for the dimwit who thinks overweight women should not be allowed to get pregnant) - this is a study that looks at correlation, which illustrates the relationship between events or variables; it is not an illustration of cause and effect.

victoriavoodoo

My mom was larger most of my life(this past year she has lost like 70 lbs I'm very proud of her) and I have not been obese but I always thought I was, even when I looked like i do in my profile pic. I think her constant dieting/binging/putting herself down rubbed off on me more than any genetic thing.

I think when a parent is extreme about anything the kid will either follow into that or run in the opposite direction.

notmac

Wow! I work in health care, with Women and Children's health, so I see overweight women having babies, the biggest risk with this may be gestational diabetes. Not every over weight woman ends up with gestational diabetes, and not each gestational diabetic is overweight. Many women make much much worse decisions during pregnancy, think drugs, and alcohol, now that is selfish.

The_New_Christina

I hate this comment (Fat mom=Fat kid). I was TOLD by my SIL that my daughter would be chubby because I am overweight! NOT TRUE!! My son (for example) is as skinny as a rail, tall and thin. 5 Years old and wears 3T-4T clothing. I was not born overweight, it happened during pregnancies. I have 3 kids and love them to death. Wouldn't change a thing. (got pregnant while already overweight). Ignorant people are the ones who shouldn't have kids, not overweight women!

Jorra

For real?! @_@ Are you sure this is not a troll post?!

I'm curious, what is your definition of trolling.

I can believe this research. Genes can be influenced heavily by the environment in which they are expressed.

VelociMama

It's a really interesting article. I wouldn't think that a genetic change would be so evident in a short amount of time (within a few years of the mother losing weight).

My question about the results is whether or not the dietary habits of the first children born when the mother was very obese are different than those of the children born with the mother was no longer obese. I can see how a mom wouldn't necessarily teach the first child about nutrition the way she would the second after her weight-loss.

I still firmly believe that a lot of the reason why obese parents often have obese children is poor home environment (lack of activity and good nutrition). There may be a genetic component, as described in the article, but to me the real question is whether or not that genetic component overrides the environmental issues.

TrailRunner61

I was very thin while raising my kids. In fact, I only weighed 125-126lbs when 9 mths pregnant with them. One is heavy, the other two are thin. I think that food habits may have something to do with it. When I lived at home with my parents/siblings, all mom made was fried meat. Fried pork chops, fried chicken, gravies on top of everything. My siblings all ended up obese (as in one even had bypass surgery), all are diabetic and none of them exercise, at all. I ate that crap at home but I ate less than they did, I'm not sure why. Maybe I just wasn't as hungry? I was the only one who was on my bike, riding to the lake, running through the woods and climbing trees. I guess being a tomboy kept me from getting fat then.

Later in life as I got lazier and depressed, I gained weight.. up to 179lbs. Now I'm at a normal weight and my daughter is using MFP too and she looks awesome and is quickly reaching her goals. She has always been beautiful and she also has depression issues. My other daughter had a baby and has used MFP also with awesome results.

I raised my kids to be outside and to know how to have fun without money because you don't know what kind of life they will end up having.
I took them to every park I could find, played in the rain, played in the leaves, playgrounds, trails, we walked from the end of every parking lot (a habit that we ALL still do), we all got some sort of exercise, kept the kids active and made sure that when we had family gatherings, we are always outside doing something instead of just sitting around stuffing our faces. They all love to camp, hike, fish, play in the snow, etc. Now they, and we, are doing the same with our grandkids.
My sisters, who are both obese, raised fat kids. They are all fat, their kids and grandkids are all fat. They still don't exercise and their kids, grandkids don't exercise. They sit around, eat fast food daily and play on their computers/video games all day. I feel sorry for all of them.

IMO, all you can do is give them healthy choices, try to keep them active and do your best. In the end, just like any other life lesson, they will have to make their OWN choices and live with them. Parents and kids come in all sizes. No situation is the same.

rml_16

Interesting.

But my mom has been overweight pretty much her entire life (including when I was born) and I have an excellent cardio vascular system and didn't have a weight problem (which was slight, really) until my late 20s.

kjjm08

i personally don't think any woman more than 40 pounds overweight has any business being pregnant in the first place. it's selfish and irresponsible.

young women, if you want to have children someday take care of your body now and get in shape.

Interesting. I have seen skinny women get pregnant and they eat/drink like crap the entire pregnancy but it's ok right? I mean, because they aren't overweight to begin with? Many overweight women who do indeed get pregnant, also take care of their diet, and get plenty of exercise while pregnant. Just an FYI.

Tebbspcad

I think there is a genetic link - my brother (and his wife) are on the large size and his 3 kids are all big as well - they are not obese yet but they will be - I think they keep McDonalds in business as they are there nearly every day! His 5 year old is nearly the same weight as my 9 year old, but all my kids are super skinny (they take after their dad!) so maybe it's not a good comparision.

I often see larger parents with larger kids at the primary school my kids go to so it's not unreasonable to think if the parents eat the wrong foods to excess then the kids will do as well!