Obesity worries for pregnant women

More than half of the mums-to-be in Lanarkshire are either overweight or obese.

That’s according to the latest official figures, released last week, which a leading cancer charity has described as “deeply concerning.“

NHS figures for the year ending March 2018 show that 1770 – that’s 26.7 per cent – expectant mums were overweight, while 1748 (26.4 per cent) were obese.

Medics checked the women’s Body Mass Index at their antenatal booking appointment.

The records cover 6624 pregnancies and 2476 (37.4 per cent) women had a healthy weight, while 158 (2.4 per cent) were underweight. Data was not available for 472 (7.1 per cent) women.

Across Scotland, 13,427 mums-to-be (26.2 per cent) were classed as overweight when they had their initial booking-in appointment, while 11,604 (22.7 per cent) were obese. Both totals were down on the previous year, when 50.7 per cent of pregnant women were overweight or obese.

But Cancer Research UK said the statistics remained “deeply concerning”.

Professor Linda Bauld, the charity’s prevention expert, said: “Carrying too much weight causes about 2200 cases of cancer every year in Scotland.

“Tackling obesity is complex but laws to restrict multi-buy offers on junk food would be an effective measure to help everyone, including mums-to-be, from filling their shopping trolleys with foods high in fat and sugar.”

The report said obesity in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of a number of adverse outcomes like miscarriage, birth defects and neonatal death.