Warning: This Blog post isn’t fun, amusing or humorous in any way, but rather very disturbing—on several levels. It should also be thought-provoking, and it should be a call to action.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average woman is 5 feet 4 inches tall. She weighs 165 pounds. According to BMI standards, the average woman is overweight and only 10 pounds away from falling into the obese category. Here’s why this is important, and why we’re only talking about women here . . .
A study published this month in the journal Human Reproduction cites research that finds “women who are obese during early pregnancy have a significantly increased risk of their baby dying before, during or up to one year after birth.” By “significantly increased risk” the study means an obese woman has nearly double the risk of the baby dying in the womb or up to one year after birth than women of recommended weight. (If you don’t know your BMI, you can check it here on our website.)
Obviously, you don’t want to try to lose weight during pregnancy, but reaching and maintaining a healthy weight before becoming pregnant is a necessary step to giving a baby the best possible start in life. This in itself should be important enough to make those behavioral lifestyle choices that lead to better nutritional health, wellness and recommended weight—for a lifetime. Don't you think so?
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