Factors that influence a baby's weight 0:48
(CNN) --
A woman's body mass index (BMI) during pregnancy influences her child's BMI less than previously thought, according to a new study.
BMI is a measurement that uses height and weight data to track changes in weight.
Children with a high BMI, 25 or more, were more likely to be overweight or obese due to environmental factors than their mother's weight during pregnancy, according to the study published in the journal BMC Medicine.
Environmental factors include anything that makes children eat more and exercise less, said study author Tom Bond, a senior research associate at the University of Bristol and a visiting research fellow at Imperial College London.
The researchers used data collected in the "Children of the 90s" and "Born in Bradford" longitudinal studies to analyze participants' BMI at birth, one year, and four years.
Additionally, BMI was analyzed only in "Children of the 90s" participants at ages 10 and 15.
"Children of the 90s" is a long-term research group that began with more than 14,000 pregnant women recruited in the early 1990s. Born in Bradford is a research program that analyzes the health data of more than 30,000 people in Bradford , United Kingdom.
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The results showed that there was a small relationship between the mother's BMI and the baby's birth weight, but the causality disappeared as the child grew older.
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"Although the BMI of adolescents is linked to the BMI of their mothers, this is more likely due to inherited genes and lifestyle factors than effects in the womb," Bond said by email.
There are many factors that affect an adult's BMI, so controlling maternal weight is not a "silver bullet" for obesity, said Dr. Christopher Bolling, a pediatrician with Pediatric Associates, PSC, in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, who did not participate in the study.
He is also the past chair of the Obesity Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
A child's environment and lifestyle, such as living near a large number of fast-food restaurants or far from large, open, green areas, can have an impact on a child's BMI, according to Bond.
"It seems we all know the lifestyle basics of being at a healthy weight. The challenge for us as a society is to make those healthy choices the easy option," Bolling said.
Children should have more access to healthy foods and less access to unhealthy ones, she explained.
They should also have more opportunities to engage in regular physical activity to help limit sedentary behavior.
Mothers must remain cautious
While there isn't much of a correlation between a pregnant woman's BMI and her child's BMI later on, that doesn't mean those women are exempt from watching their weight.
The risks for children with a mother who has a high BMI remain greater, says Bond.
Some women with a high BMI can experience complications such as cesarean deliveries or stillbirths, he explained.
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Also, pregnant women with a high BMI are at risk of developing gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, which is when a pregnant woman develops high blood pressure, protein in the urine, and other serious symptoms. They also face possible complications in childbirth, such as shoulder dystocia, which is when one or both of the baby's shoulders become trapped inside the mother's pelvis during delivery, said Dr. Tamika Auguste, vice president of services for women and infants at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. She did not participate in the study.
Pregnant women should avoid "eating for two" and instead focus on a healthy diet with exercise as directed by their health care provider, Auguste said.
Safe exercise options include walking, running and dancing, he explained.
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