Fat Moms Have Stupider Kids

Don't blame me for the title, but perhaps it's best that Ohio State University researchers politely stated their study result as thus:

Women who are obese before they become pregnant are at higher risk of having children with lower cognitive function - as measured by math and reading tests taken between ages 5 to 7 years - than are mothers with a healthy prepregnancy weight, new research suggests. [...]

The researchers calculated the mothers’ body mass index (BMI) based on their reported heights and weights. More than half of mothers had normal BMIs before pregnancy, and 9.6 percent were obese, meaning they had a BMI of 30 or higher.

Controlling for all other variables, the analysis showed that maternal prepregnancy obesity was negatively associated with math and reading test scores. Children of obese women scored, on average, three points lower on reading and two points lower on math than did children of healthy-weight women. The mean reading score among all the children was 106.1 points and the mean math score was 99.9.

Though the score differences seem small, Tanda noted that these effects of prepregnancy obesity were equivalent to a seven-year decrease in the mothers’ education and significantly lower family income, two other known risk factors that negatively affect childhood cognitive function.

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This is not science. This kids might have been stupid no matter what the parents weight. No evidence of the correlation was established. In order for this to be proof SOME evidence of how the fat and/or weight actually effects the brain has to be submitted. Unless science has taken a major dive, I doubt this is how the study was presented.
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Yes and about the same thing is probably true for African Americans....all thanks to socio-economic factors rather than biological ones. This proves very little other than prejudice towards a group of people causing more prejudice. Next they'll say those with a BMI over 30 need separate bathrooms and drinking fountains so they can't "infect" the rest of the population with their "disease".
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Kind of too late to do anything about this now. My two kids are out of the womb. Now no one say anything to my offspring, but here comes some anecdotal evidence. I was of normal weight for my first and obese for the second. #2 so far seems clearly smarter than #1.

And I'll be fat and choosy. Thanks. Rather be alone than with a douchebag.

We also need to do this study on fat men.
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Don't "blame YOU for the title"..????why? ?what're you worried about ?? RANDY, you put it better than I could...lol..., for the record, I LOVE "fat women", there is nothing sexier...,one wonders, what possesses you to add this "article" ..??
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It said they controlled for all other variables - that should account for differences in socio-economic status, lifestyle, and mates. Besides, why should obese women have to choose from less untelligent men? Maybe less physically attractive, if anything, but that is speculation.
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That's actually an interesting point. Did they take into account the intelligence of the fathers of the children?? It sounds terrible, but there might be something to it.
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agreed Moon

though, "two other known risk factors that negatively affect childhood cognitive function" this should be "correlated", not "affect", right? They don't know which is the cause and which is the result.
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First, BMI is stupid. :)
Second, "Though the score differences seem small, Tanda noted that these effects of prepregnancy obesity were equivalent to a seven-year decrease in the mothers’ education and significantly lower family income" seems to be the real indicator.
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