Contracting COVID-19 while pregnant could lead to a higher risk of obesity for the child: study – CTV
March 29, 2023
A small study is presenting evidence suggesting a strange possible outcome of a COVID-19 infection during pregnancy: higher risk of obesity for the child.
Specifically, researchers observed a pattern of U.S. women who had COVID-19 at some point during their pregnancy and gave birth to infants with a lower initial weight, who then gained weight much faster than other babies.
“Our findings suggest that children exposed in utero to maternal COVID-19 have an altered growth pattern in early life that may increase their risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease over time,” Lindsay T. Fourman, a doctor with Massachusetts General Hospital and one of the study authors, said in a press release. “There is still a lot of research needed to understand the effects of COVID-19 on pregnant women and their children.”
