Women who gain too much or too little weight while pregnant may be more likely to go on to have an overweight or obese child, the results of a new study indicate.

US researchers studied the health records of over 4,100 women who had given birth. The medical records of these children were also reviewed when they were aged between two and five years.

The study found that women who had a healthy body mass index (BMI) prior to pregnancy, but who gained less than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy, were 63% more likely to have to a child who would go on to become overweight or obese.

Meanwhile, those with a healthy BMI prior to pregnancy who went on to gain too much weight, were 80% more likely to have a child who would go on to become overweight or obese.

"The strong association we found among normal weight women who gained too much or too little weight during pregnancy suggests that perhaps weight gain in pregnancy may have an impact on the child that is independent of genetic factors," commented the study's senior investigator, Dr Monique Hedderson, of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in California.

The researchers suggested that gaining too much or too little weight during pregnancy ‘may permanently affect mechanisms that manage energy balance and metabolism in the offspring, such as appetite control and energy expenditure'.

Details of their findings are published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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