More and more younger generations are becoming obese at a very early age. Researchers believe that a way to resolve this problem is to focus on women who are at their child bearing age.
Women who are obese experience difficulty in conceiving. Aside from that, their babies are at a higher risk of getting health problems. According to Dr Eugene Oteng-Ntim, President of the RSM's Maternity & the Newborn Section "Women of reproductive age need to maintain a healthy weight if they want to have a healthy pregnancy and give birth to healthy children. Government obesity campaigns are not paying enough attention one of the most important groups in the population. Once an obese woman is pregnant, she and her baby already run a greater risk to their health. Obesity problems begin before conception and pregnancy is certainly not the time to start trying to lose weight."
Dr Anne Dornhorst, President of the Endocrinology & Diabetes Section commented, "It is staggering that this research found that BMI is still not being routinely recorded in women booking for obstetric services. Obesity in pregnancy is continuing to rise and, consequently, diabetes types 1 and 2 are also on the rise. As the CEMACH* report clearly showed, this means an increased risk of perinatal mortality, congenital anomalies and stillbirths. The next CEMACH report will provide us with further hard evidence of the risk factors associated with obesity in pregnancy but we already know more than enough to recognise the importance of targeting health messages at this important group."
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