Report on the fifth meeting of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Gestational Weight Gain (TAG-GWG)

Overview

In 2023, WHO established a multidisciplinary Technical Advisory Group on Gestational Weight Gain (TAG-GWG) to advise on the process of developing GWG standards and optimal ranges. This includes providing advice on the development of a detailed research protocol, which will encompass the definition of study- and individual-level eligibility criteria for determining a sample that is as prescriptive as data and evidence allows, as well as methods and approaches for developing the global GWG standards and optimal ranges.

The Fifth Meeting of the WHO TAG‑GWG, held on 24 November 2025, brought together global experts to advance the development of global gestational weight gain standards. The group reviewed significant updates from the project core group, including the creation of a large and diverse database of more than 370 000 pregnancies from 26 countries and the inclusion criteria applied to get to the final list of studies. Several discussions were held, leading to consensual feedback from experts. Subjects discussed included initial weight to be used to calculate pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain and outlier detection procedures.  A descriptive analysis of more than 1.6 million maternal weight measurements, which showed biologically consistent patterns across trimesters and regions, was presented. The meeting concluded with agreement on next steps, including finalizing eligibility criteria at the individual level, advancing analyses for the development of the curves, and preparing for the next TAG‑GWG meeting in early 2026.