Predictors and outcomes of excess gestational weight gain among low-income pregnant women.
Danielle Nunnery, Alice Ammerman, Jigna Dharod
PMID 29068777WHAT IT FOUND
Low-income pregnant women gained on average 10 lbs above recommended limits.
Being African American, having an unplanned pregnancy, or starting pregnancy with obesity doubled or tripled the odds of exceeding these limits. Food insecurity status was not associated with excess weight gain in this sample.
Key findings
01Participants gained an average of 10 lbs (4.5 kg) in excess of the maximum recommended weight gain for their pre-pregnancy BMI category.
02African American women had 2.2 times higher odds, women with unplanned pregnancies were twice as likely, and women with obese pre-pregnancy BMI had 2.89 times higher odds of exceeding recommended weight gain limits.
03Excess weight gain was significantly associated with infants having non-normal size for gestational age, with these women gaining nearly double the excess weight compared to those with normal-sized infants.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study excluded women with underweight pre-pregnancy BMI or those who lost weight, limiting applicability to this subgroup. Pre-pregnancy weight was self-reported, which may introduce recall bias. The sample was restricted to low-income women attending WIC, so findings may not generalise to higher-income populations. Food security was measured during pregnancy, not before, which may obscure the relationship between baseline nutrition status and weight gain.
Declared interests
Research support from the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H., Extramural). No other conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that food insecurity causes excess weight gain in this population. The study explicitly found no significant association between food security status and excess gestational weight gain.