Nutritional Status of Children from Women with Previously Bariatric Surgery.

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

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

Methods: 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).

Results: The sample consisted of 13 children (61.6% female, mean age of 46 ± 22.3 months, BMI of 18.9 ± 3.3 kg/m). 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).

Conclusion: 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.