Endocrinologist Associate Professor Sarah Glastras, who led the study, said she hoped the findings encouraged women living with obesity to think about reducing their weight before trying to fall pregnant.
“You’re not only putting your health at risk, but this research shows that you’re putting a lot of risk on the unborn child as well,” she said. “We, as women, need to be fully informed, so we can make the very best choices before planning to have a child.”
After two years of pandemic restrictions, Australia could be facing an obesity wake-up call, said Associate Professor Sof Andrikopoulos, CEO of the Australian Diabetes Society and head of the biology and metabolism research group at the University of Melbourne.
“The lockdowns have increased people staying at home, eating less well and not exercising as much, and people haven’t been to the GP where weight might be monitored,” he said, noting bariatric surgery had also been disrupted by elective surgery restrictions.
Dr Andrikopoulos said the study, which he was not involved with, showed similar results to other obesity-related conditions.
“If you’re obese, any weight loss is going to have positive outcomes for chronic conditions,” he said.
Dr Glastras said, while it was “possibly too early” to understand the impact of the pandemic on obesity rates, working from home had allowed some people to exercise more and spend more time preparing healthy meals.
However, she expected school and university students – moving to learning from home and losing access to recreational activities such as organised sports – had been adversely affected.
“It’s been particularly impactful on the lifestyle of younger people, and they are our reproductive future.”
Emma MacCarthy was more than 50 kg above a healthy weight when she fell pregnant in 2017. She was not aware it would impact the kind of pregnancy she had.
The mother, now 45, from north-west Sydney was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and her pregnancy was treated as high-risk. While she gave birth to a healthy son, a subsequent pregnancy ended in miscarriage.
“Having a baby seemed like the most natural and happy thing in the world,” she said. “I was definitely naive to the risk – oblivious to it – and very, very lucky my doctors were not.”
Three years after giving birth, it was the pandemic that spurred Ms MacCarthy to change her diet and exercise patterns, bringing her weight to a healthy range over 12 months.
“COVID was starting and I realised: I’ve got two young children and, if I get it, I could be in some serious trouble. I need to do something about this.”
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How obesity affects the chances of complications during pregnancy
Source: Philippines Alive
