Undoing the 'Big Baby' Trend(f the nutrition committee for the Americ...),Health

"Certainly, overweight mothers are at risk for having overweight infants," he said. "Mothers who have gestational diabetes [diagnosed during pregnancy] are also at greater risk." And if the child's father is overweight, he said, that can also help predict whether the baby will be overweight.

But, Greer added, it's not a simple issue.

"Predicting obesity in the first year of life is problematic," Greer said. "Obviously, you can pick out the infants at risk by looking at their birth weight and looking at their parents. However, pediatricians are reluctant to do this at the well-baby visit before the infant is approaching the 85th percentile for weight," generally considered the threshold for being classified as overweight.

What to do? Greer and Olson have a number of suggestions.

Besides getting down to a healthy weight before becoming pregnant, women should follow the weight-gain guidelines during pregnancy, they said. That means 25 to 35 pounds for normal-weight women, more for underweight and less for overweight. Ask your doctor what's best for you.

Only about 40 percent of women stay within the recommended weight-gain guidelines, Olson has found.

Breast-feeding for the first four to six months can help reduce the chances that a child will become overweight, Olson and Greer agreed. But exclusive breast-feeding for that long can be a challenge, Olson said, especially if a woman is returning to work.

Olson advised women to research their rights. A New York law, for instance, mandates breaks during work for women to pump milk, Olson said. Breast-feeding mothers might also want to ask their supervisors for support and input on how to better mesh breast-feeding and working.

More information

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has more on