Effect of placental size on the progeny of obese women

As shown in the progeny of 1467 obese white participants in the Collaborative Perinatal Project (NCPP), maternal obesity is associated with greater body size in postnatal time. However, the progeny of obese women associated with a small placenta are demonstrably smaller than average at birth and, to some extent, the “placental effect” is maintained as late as the seventh year. It is suggested that the larger placentas generally associated with maternal obesity give an initial advantage to the offspring but that maternal feeding behavior accounts for an increasing proportion of the dimensional differences thereafter.

Key words:

• obesity
• placenta
• maternal effect
• overweight