Elsevier

Advances in Nutrition

Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 83-94
Advances in Nutrition

Racial-Ethnic Differences in Pregnancy-Related Weight

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ABSTRACT

This review examines published literature to answer 2 questions: 1) Are there racial-ethnic differences in excessive or inadequate gestational weight gain (GWG) and postpartum weight retention (PPWR)? and 2) Is there evidence that approaches to promote healthy weight during and after pregnancy should vary by race-ethnicity? We identified a limited number of articles that explicitly looked at racial-ethnic differences in either GWG or PPWR after controlling for relevant covariates. These studies suggest that black and Hispanic women are more likely to gain inadequately based on the Institute of Medicine's pregnancy weight gain guidelines compared to white women. Black women are more likely to retain considerable amounts of weight postpartum compared to both Hispanic and white mothers. Studies were inconclusive as to whether Hispanic women retained more or less weight postpartum, so more research is needed. Interventions to increase GWG were few and those designed to reduce GWG and PPWR showed mixed results. Future studies should address the methodological and conceptual limitations of prior research as well as investigate biological mechanisms and behavioral risk factors to determine the reasons for the racial-ethnic differences in pregnancy-related weight outcomes. Interventions would benefit from a mixed-methods approach that specifically identifies race-relevant barriers to weight management during and after pregnancy. Attention to the greater social context in which pregnancy-related weight exists is also needed.

Abbreviations used

GWG
gestational weight gain
IFPS
Infant Feeding Practices Study
IOM
Institute of Medicine
NMIHS
National Maternal and Infant Health Survey
PIN
Pregnancy Infection and Nutrition Study
PNSS
U.S. Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System
PPWR
postpartum weight retention
PRAMS
Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System
SES
socioeconomic status
WIC
Women, Infants, and Children Food and Nutrition Services

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Published as a supplement to Advances in Nutrition. Presented as part of the symposium entitled “Health Disparities in Early Nutrition: Where the Problem Begins?” given at the Experimental Biology 2011 meeting, April 12, 2011, in Washington, DC. The symposium was sponsored by the American Society for Nutrition and supported in part by an educational grant from DSM Nutrition Products LLC. The symposium was chaired by Rafael Pérez-Escamilla and Odilia Bermudez. Guest Editors for this symposium publication were Rafael Perez-Escamilla and Odilia Bermudez. Guest Editor disclosure: Neither Guest Editor had conflicts to disclose.

Supported by the National Institutes of Minority Health Disparities (1 R01 MD006104-01).

Author disclosures: I. E. Headen, E. M. Davis, M. S. Mujahid, and B. Abrams, no conflicts of interest.