Socio‐demographic and obstetrical correlates of pre‐pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain

Abstract

Both pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) are important determinants of a healthy pregnancy outcome and may show important variation. To study the influence of socio-demographic and obstetrical correlates on pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG, data of 54 022 singleton term pregnancies were analysed using adjusted regression models. In 2009, in the Northern region of Belgium, one-third of women were overweight (21.6%) or obese (10.1%) and GWG as recommended by the Institute of Medicine occurred in only 28% of obese women. A high pre-pregnancy BMI was significantly associated with low maternal education, high maternal age and multiparity, belonging to ethnic minority groups and a lower professional state. Compared to adequate GWG, excessive GWG was more common in younger (<20 years) women, with higher pre-pregnancy BMI and pregnancy-induced hypertension. Moreover, younger (20-24 years), single women, belonging to ethnic minority groups showed higher odds for excessive as well as insufficient GWG, while those with high/highest educational level had lower odds for excessive (odds ratio [OR] 0.76; confidence interval [CI] 0.72-0.80) and insufficient (OR 0.93; CI 0.89-0.98) GWG. The results of this study highlight the scale of the problem of maternal obesity and excessive GWG for this region and offer opportunities to target educational campaigns and intervention programmes in the clinical setting.

Addressing cultural, racial and ethnic discrepancies in guideline discordant gestational weight gain: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Numerous studies explored more diverse racial/ethnic groups (Neser, 1963; Allen et al., 1994; Frisbie, Forbes & Hummer, 1998; Larouche et al., 2010; Bogaerts et al., 2012; Kowal, Kuk & Tamim, 2012; Gaillard et al., 2013; Hernandez-Rivas et al., 2013; Sommer et al., 2014; Bahadoer et al., 2015; Deputy et al., 2015; Kinnunen et al., 2016) but there were too few similarities within the data to compare GWG patterns. These studies are included in the summaries presented in Table 2 (2009 IOM guidelines).…”

Interpregnancy Weight Change and Risk for Adverse Perinatal Outcome

“…24 Concurrently, a high postpartum weight retention is an important contributor to long-term maternal obesity. More specifically, the increased risk for GDM and pregnancy-induced hypertension was only present in underweight and normal-weight women.…”

A Review of the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Position and the Early-Life Predictors of Obesity

“…Studies from Belgium, Canada and Sweden demonstrated an inverse association (but the association only being apparent in those with healthy pre-pregnancy weight in the Swedish study) [49][50][51], while nine studies from Iran, USA, Australia/New Zealand, Brazil and the Netherlands found no association [52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. One study from New York found that the relationship was complex and depended upon area of residence [61].…”