Study finds Covid-19 during pregnancy raises risk of child obesity

A recent study suggests that children born to mothers who contracted Covid-19 during pregnancy may have a higher risk of developing obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. 

With over 100 million reported Covid-19 cases in the US since 2019, the long-term health effects of the virus are still unknown. 

Pregnant women account for 9% of reproductive-aged women with Covid-19, exposing millions of babies to the infection during fetal development over the next five years. Lindsay T Fourman, from Massachusetts General Hospital, warns that exposure to maternal Covid-19 may alter a child's growth pattern and increase their risk of chronic health conditions.

There is still a lot of research needed to understand the effects of Covid-19 on pregnant women and their children, she said.

The researchers studied 150 infants born to mothers who had Covid-19 during pregnancy and found they had lower birth weight followed by greater weight gain in the first year of life as compared to 130 babies whose mothers did not have a prenatal infection.

These changes have been associated with an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in childhood and beyond.

Our findings emphasise the importance of long-term follow-up of children exposed in utero to maternal Covid-19 infection, as well as the widespread implementation of Covid-19 prevention strategies among pregnant individuals, said Andrea G Edlow, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital.

Larger studies with longer follow-up duration are needed to confirm these associations, she said.

The study was published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.