Research

Energy balance

Current energy intake recommendations for pregnant women with obesity overestimate total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), potentially promoting excess gestational weight gain.

Standard calorie recommendations for pregnant women with obesity are likely too high. This study suggests that following these standard guidelines may lead to excessive weight gain because they overestimate how many calories these women actually burn. Healthcare providers should consider lower energy targets or more personalized metabolic assessments for obese pregnant women to prevent excess gestational weight gain.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Current energy requirement models overestimate activity and may promote excess GWG in women with obesity.
Jasper Most et al. · Obesity · 2018

Why this rating

Large sample size (N=72) for this specific demographic, use of gold-standard measurement tools (DLW, whole-room calorimeter), but cross-sectional design limits causal inference on long-term outcomes.

Source

Energy Expenditure in Pregnant Women with Obesity Does Not Support Energy Intake Recommendations

Jasper Most et al. · Obesity · 2018

DOI 10.1002/oby.22194

cross_sectional · n=72Cited 29×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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