QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kac, G. Articles by Struchiner, C. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kac, G. Articles by Struchiner, C. J.

---

Nutritional Epidemiology

Gestational Weight Gain and Prepregnancy Weight Influence Postpartum Weight Retention in a Cohort of Brazilian Women¹

Gilberto Kac², Maria H.D.A. Benício^*, Gustavo Velásquez-Meléndez, Joaquim G. Valente^**, and Cláudio J. Struchiner^,

Department of Social and Applied Nutrition, Institute of Nutrition, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; ^* Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Department of Maternal and Pediatric Nursing and Public Health, School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil; ^** Department of Epidemiology and Quantitative Methods in Health, National School of Public Health, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Institute of Social Medicine, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; and Program for Scientific Computation, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

²To whom correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail: gkac{at}gbl.com.br.

The objective of the study was to test the association between gestational weight gain, reproductive factors, and postpartum weight retention based on a cohort conducted with 405 women aged 18–45 y with follow-up waves at 0.5, 2, 6, and 9 mo postpartum. The outcome variable, postpartum weight retention, was calculated as the difference between the measured weight at each visit minus the prepregnancy weight. We estimated the statistical associations between the outcome variable and potential explanatory covariates of interest by fitting a longitudinal mixed-effects model. Women with gestational weight gain above the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) retained significantly more weight than women with weight gain within or below the recommendations, independently of prepregnancy BMI [weight (kg)/height (m²)] or body fat at baseline. Women with the highest gestational weight gain and with body fat 30 g/100 g at baseline had the highest likelihood of developing maternal obesity. The final longitudinal model showed that 35% of each kilogram of weight gained during pregnancy was retained 9 mo postpartum, even after adjustment for age, prepregnancy BMI, body fat at baseline, and years since first parturition. Each unit of increase in prepregnancy BMI was associated with a decrease of -0.51 kg in postpartum weight retention. In conclusion, gestational weight gain was one of the most important predictors for postpartum weight retention and must be monitored systematically with the aim of preventing postpartum obesity and the diseases that follow.

KEY WORDS: • postpartum weight retention • obesity • gestational weight gain • women of childbearing age • follow-up study

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. P. Gunderson, S. L. Rifas-Shiman, E. Oken, J. W. Rich-Edwards, K. P. Kleinman, E. M. Taveras, and M. W. Gillman Association of Fewer Hours of Sleep at 6 Months Postpartum with Substantial Weight Retention at 1 Year Postpartum Am. J. Epidemiol., January 15, 2008; 167(2): 178 - 187. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A Kim, K. M Yount, U. Ramakrishnan, and R. Martorell The relationship between parity and overweight varies with household wealth and national development Int. J. Epidemiol., February 1, 2007; 36(1): 93 - 101. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]