Journal
ADVANCES IN NUTRITION
Volume 3, Issue 1, Pages 83-94Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.3945/an.111.000984
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities [R01MD006104] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NIMHD NIH HHS [1 R01 MD006104-01, R01 MD006104] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
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. Adv. Nutr. 3: 83-94, 2012.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available