Daily HealthBeat Tip

Passing along the weight.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

If Mom is overweight, it isn't a good thing for the kids to look like Mom. Overweight kids can grow into overweight adults � with the health problems that result, such as a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Just the same, a study finds overweight women are more likely to have overweight children.

Researcher Pamela Salsberry of Ohio State University found the connection in a look at data on more than 3,000 children. Her study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health, was in the journal Pediatrics.

"The more overweight the mother is prepregnancy � again, this is prepregnancy - the greater the risk that the child will become overweight earlier." (eight seconds)

Salsberry says women who are overweight have many reasons to lose weight -- for their own health and maybe for the health of their unborn children.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: March 20, 2006

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