BOCYF Project

Committee on Reexamination of Pregnancy Weight Guidelines

Connection to project scope, roster, and meetings (CPS system)

This committee is a joint project of the IOM Food and Nutrition Board and the Board on Children, Youth, and Families

An ad hoc committee will review and update the 1990 Institute of Medicine recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy and recommend ways to encourage their adoption through clinical guidance, consumer education, and public health strategies. Specifically, the committee will:

(1) Review evidence on the relationship between weight gain patterns before, during, and after pregnancy and child and maternal health outcomes, with particular attention to the prevalence of maternal obesity, racial/ethnic and age differences, components of gestational weight gain, and implications of weight during pregnancy on postpartum weight retention and obesity.

(2) Consider the relative merits of health indicators within a life-stage framework that reflect desirable health outcomes beyond gestational weight gain and birth weight. For women, in addition to or other than body mass index (BMI), consider lactation performance, postpartum weight retention, cardiovascular disease, gestational diabetes, other metabolic issues and long-term risk of other chronic diseases; for infants and children, in addition to low birth weight, consider early developmental impacts and obesity related consequences (e.g., premature birth, mental health, BMI, diabetes).

(3) Determine the need for specific pregnancy weight guidelines for overweight and obese women and adolescents.

(4) Recommend revisions to the existing guidelines, where necessary.

(5) Recommend ways to enhance awareness and adoption of the guidelines through clinical guidance, consumer education to men and women, and public health strategies.

(6) Identify gaps in knowledge and recommend research priorities.

Staff Contact

Ann Yaktine, Study Director, 202-334-1380; ayaktine@nas.edu
M. Jennifer Datiles, Senior Program Assistant, 202-334-2317; mdatiles@nas.edu
Heather DelValle, Research Associate, 202-334-2873; hdelvalle@nas.edu