Women who gain 38 pounds or more during pregnancy raise their risk of developing breast cancer after menopause by 40 percent, researchers said Tuesday.
“Excess pregnancy weight gain doesn’t increase breast cancer risk in pre-menopausal women, but it does increase risk for post-menopausal women,” said Leena Hilakivi-Clarke, associate professor of oncology at Georgetown University in Washington and an author of the study.
Results of the study, drawn from data on more than 20,000 Finnish women, were released Tuesday at a meeting in San Francisco of the American Association for Cancer Research.
The research found that women who gained 38 pounds or more during pregnancy–the recommended range is 25-35 pounds–raise their post-menopausal risk of developing breast cancer by 40 percent.
In industrialized countries, about half of pregnant women gain weight within the recommended range, but about 30 percent gain too much, Hilakivi-Clarke said.
The study also found that women who fail to drop the added pounds after giving birth are most at risk.
