A new study now shows that weight problems in children may start as early as the womb. Some women, when pregnant, tend to gain more weight than is necessary to produce a healthy baby. The latest studies show that excessive weight gain can now result in larger babies, which then sets them up to be overweight and experience problems later on such as diabetes and heart disease.

According to the Institute of Medicine, in 2009 more than one-third of normal weight women and more than half of overweight women gained more weight than was necessary during pregnancy. The newest study done on this surveyed over 500,000 women. The normal weight gain for a pregnant woman ranges anywhere from 25 to 35 pounds for normal weight women. Women who gained 53 pounds or more were twice as likely to have babies weighing more than nine pounds at birth. For every 2.2 pounds gained by the mother during pregnancy, the baby’s birth weight went up by one-fourth of an ounce.

The number of high-birth-weight babies being born has gone up dramatically, according to the study. It also found that more women are now overweight before pregnancy, and then gaining a significant amount during their pregnancy and then producing overweight babies. The study also suggests that more women need to lose weight before they get pregnant, so that the extra weight added on during pregnancy doesn’t affect the overall health of their baby.

A study conducted in Britain found that by age 9, the children of women who gained more weight than they were supposed to, were more overweight than the other children their age and had high blood pressure, as well as a risk for heart disease. They also tended to get sick more often than other children did.

If you want a healthy baby, make sure to only gain the recommended amount of weight. This may help save your baby’s life later on down the road.