Women With History of Dieting at Risk for Higher Weight Gain During Pregnancy

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Title: Women With History of Dieting at Risk for Higher Weight Gain During Pregnancy
URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/22E02A.htm
Doctor's Guide
October 2, 2008

ST. LOUIS, Mo -- October 2, 2008 -- Women who have a history of dieting or other restricted eating practices are at risk of gaining an inappropriate amount of weight during pregnancy, according to a study published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina report that restrained eating behaviours prior to pregnancy were associated with weight gains above the Institute of Medicine recommendations for normal, overweight, and obese women, and weight gains below the recommendations for underweight women.

Over 1,200 women participated in the study, which was designed to determine whether a history of preconception dieting practices and restrained eating were related to higher weight gains in pregnancy, and whether this differed by prepregnancy body mass index status.

To assess behaviours associated with restrained eating patterns such as a history of dieting, concern about eating too much food, and weight fluctuations, women completed a questionnaire that focused on their preconception habits.

Women who were more overweight or obese tended to be classified as restrained eaters, dieters, or weight cyclers.

The study found that restrained eating behaviours were associated with not gaining within the targeted weight gains. Most importantly, the effect of restrained eating on maternal weight gain varied by prepregnancy weight status.

Restrained eaters and dieters in the normal, overweight, and obese categories tended to gain in excess of recommendations, whereas underweight women gained below the recommendations, when compared with women who did not display restrained eating behaviours.

Coauthor Anna Maria Siega-Riz, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, suggests that the information from this study "could potentially be used by dietitians and healthcare providers at a preconception care visit or during family planning to identify women at risk for unhealthy eating behaviours. Women who are identified, particularly those who are underweight, should be followed up for potential eating disorders."

"For women who are not underweight, counselling and extra support could be given on healthy eating behaviours, increasing physical activity levels, and ways to eliminate stress which may increase the consumption of foods in certain social settings or in reaction to life events."

"During pregnancy it would be useful to target these women with similar nutritional and physical activity strategies in order to avoid excessive weight gain and adverse pregnancy outcomes such as caesarean sections, macrosomia, and large-for-gestational age [babies] as well as shorter duration of breastfeeding and higher weight retention in the postpartum period," she said.

SOURCE: Elsevier Health Sciences

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