Nutritional Status of Children from Women with Previously Bariatric Surgery

Number of pregnancies has been increasing in women of childbearing age after the gastric bypass.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional status of children of women submitted to gastric bypass.

We evaluated anthropometric, breastfeeding and biochemical profile, body composition, and dietary intake indicators of children of both sexes who were born alive after the surgery. For statistical analysis, were performed Shapiro-Wilk and ANOVA test (p < 0.05).

The sample consisted of 13 children (61.6% female, mean age of 46 ± 22.3 months, BMI of 18.9 ± 3.3 kg/m²). The classification of BMI index by age showed that 46.1% of the children were normal weight and 30.8% obese. We observed a large percentage of children with deficiency of iron and vitamin A. 7.6 and 30.7% of children presented carbohydrate and lipid, respectively, lower than the recommendation. Fiber intake was inadequate in all children, calcium in 61.5%, vitamin A in 30.7%, and folate in 76.9% of them. Also, 84.6% presented sodium intake higher than the recommendations. The blood glucose levels were lower in children with maternal breastfeeding (65.5 ± 2.1 mg/dL, p < 0.05); furthermore, children breastfed with artificial and breast milk presented lower fat mass (3.8 ± 1.9 kg; p < 0.05).

Children from women with previously gastric bypass presented low birth weight; however, they are currently underweight or overweight and present important deficiency of iron and vitamin A and inadequate alimentary intake mainly of sodium and fibers. Breastfeeding may play a protective role in the development of obesity in these children.