The British Medical Journal analysis looked at the findings from 44 previous studies involving more than 7,000 women. A healthy diet prevents excess weight and cuts the risk of complications., the BBC reports.

According to official recommendations, dieting during pregnancy may harm the health of the unborn child. At the same time, 20-40 percent of women in Europe and the United States gain more than the recommended weight during pregnancy. The weight is connected to pre-eclampsia, diabetes and high blood pressure as well as early delivery, MEDdaily.ru reports.

Researchers compared diet, exercising or a combination of the two regarding losing weight.

Diet had the greatest effect with an average reduction of nearly 4kg. Exercise reduces weight for 0.7kg, while a combination of diet and exercise led to an average reduction of 1kg. As a matter of fact babies' birth weights were not affected by dieting.