Maternal obesity in females born small: Pregnancy complications and offspring disease risk

Abstract

Obesity is a major public health crisis, with 1.6 billion adults worldwide being classified as overweight or obese in 2014. Therefore, it is not surprising that the number of women who are overweight or obese at the time of conception is increasing. Obesity during pregnancy is associated with the development of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. The developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis proposes that perturbations during critical stages of development can result in adverse fetal changes that leads to an increased risk of developing diseases in adulthood. Of particular concern, children born to obese mothers are at a greater risk of developing cardiometabolic disease. One..