Nutrition counseling for women before kids

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., April 29 (UPI) -- Diet and nutrition counseling for overweight and obese women of childbearing age can reduce health risks for mother and baby, U.S. position paper said.

A position paper from the American Dietetic Association and the American Society of Nutrition, published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, represents the groups' official stance on obesity, reproduction and pregnancy outcomes.

Given the detrimental influence of maternal overweight and obesity on reproductive and pregnancy outcomes for the mother and child, all overweight and obese women of reproductive age should receive counseling prior to pregnancy, during pregnancy and in the interconceptional period on the roles of diet and physical activity in reproductive health, the position paper said.

The joint position and accompanying paper were written Anna Maria Siega-Riz of the University of North Carolina and Janet C. King of Children's Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, Calif.

The researchers said an estimated 33 percent of U.S. women are obese and a long-term goal of health professionals must be to reduce the number of women who become pregnant while obese.

"Among obese women, who already have aberrations in glucose and lipid metabolism, the further adjustments induced by hormonal changes in pregnancy create a metabolic milieu that enhances the risk for metabolic disorders such as gestational diabetes mellitus and pre-eclampsia," the position paper said.