Long-term postpartum obesity may be due to reprogramming of maternal energy metabolism

“Excessive gestational weight gain increases the risk of long-term postpartum obesity,” said Shao, “and our study showed that pregnant mice consuming a high fat diet significantly increased white fat cell gain, which is characteristic in humans too.

“But these mice lost that weight gain soon after giving birth, only to become spontaneously obese a few months later. The data demonstrate that excessive gestational weight gain-induced postpartum obesity is not simply an extension of pregnancy-induced fat gain or fat retention, but rather a fundamental change in maternal metabolism that results in less energy expended and more weight added as the result.”