Bigger Is Better: Healthy Mom, Smart Baby

The prospect of being in labor with a large baby can terrify any
expectant mother. But at least now there's one reason to look forward to
it: Bigger babies seem to fare better academically later in life. Plus,
women can learn how to ensure their babies are born big--and how their
own health can benefit too.

A report published in the British Medical Journal states that birth
weight seems to be linked to how smart and academically successful a
person will be, regardless of social background. The study showed a
positive relationship between birth weight and cognitive ability in the
3,900 males and females who were assessed at ages 8, 11, 15 and 26. For
example, males of skilled working-class background in the lightest birth
weight category (5.5 pounds or less) had a 31% chance of obtaining
advanced qualifications in high school or beyond, compared with 45% of
males with a similar background but in the highest birth weight category
(8.8 pounds or more). Generally speaking, says lead researcher Marcus
Richards, a research scientist at University College in London, "A
heavier birth weight translated into better intellectual performance,
including better test scores and academic achievement." The researchers
suggest that being heavier at birth may relate to a larger head
circumference, allowing for a larger brain size.

So if bigger babes are destined to be brain surgeons or scholars,
what can expectant moms do to help them grow? Exercise is one way,
according to the latest findings from Case Western University, published
in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Researchers gave 22
pregnant women an exercise regimen starting at eight weeks of pregnancy,
and compared their newborns with those of 24 women who were told to do no
exercise. The babies born to the moms who worked out were significantly
heavier and longer compared with the newborns of the sedentary moms.
"Weight-bearing exercise improves cardiovascular function in general and
improves uterine blood flow and placental growth," says study author
James Clapp, a professor of reproductive biology at Case Western. He adds
that exercise should be at least moderately difficult to see
results.

Staying fit during pregnancy is good for mom, too. A team of
nutrition experts at Cornell University found that women who gain more
weight during pregnancy than recommended by national guidelines are four
times more likely to be obese one year after giving birth, regardless of
pre-pregnancy weight.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) suggests that having a baby should
add an average of 2.2 pounds to a woman's weight a year after giving
birth, but in the study, women gained an average of four pounds. That may
not sound like much, says Christine Olson, a nutrition scientist at
Cornell University, until you consider that 56% of new cases of obesity
could have been prevented if women had stayed within the recommended
weight range during pregnancy. Olson stresses that the IOM's weight gain
guidelines for pregnant women are based on achieving healthy birth
weights for infants, but adds that they also help women return to their
normal weight. "The bottom-line message is that gaining any amount of
weight in pregnancy that is within the guidelines is good for both babies
and moms," she says.