Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T14:43:11.814Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Are overweight women at increased risk of obesity following pregnancy?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

H. E. Harris ,
G. T. H. Ellison ,
L. M. Richter ,
T. De Wet  and
J. Levin
H. E. Harris*
Affiliation:
Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Public Health Laboratory Service, LondonNW9 5EQ, UK Maternal and Child Health Research Programme, School of Chemical and Life Sciences, University of Greenwich, London SE18 6PF, UK
G. T. H. Ellison
Affiliation:
Maternal and Child Health Research Programme, School of Chemical and Life Sciences, University of Greenwich, London SE18 6PF, UK Institute of Urban Primary Health Care, Alexandra Health Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
L. M. Richter
Affiliation:
Centre for Epidemiological Research in Southern Africa, Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
T. De Wet
Affiliation:
Birth to Ten, Urbanisation and Health Programme, Medical Research Council, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa
J. Levin
Affiliation:
Centre for Epidemiological Research in Southern Africa, Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
*
*Corresponding author:Dr Helen E. Harris, fax +44 (0) 181 200 7868, email hharris@phls.co.uk101572.2635@compuserve.com
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Longitudinal studies suggest that women who already have a high BMI are at greater risk of maternal obesity than their lighter counterparts. The aim of the present study was to investigate this possibility by examining the relationship between reproductive history and maternal BMI in a community of 627 women from South Africa with a high prevalence of obesity. Standardized questionnaires were used to obtain detailed sociodemographic and behavioural information, while maternal weight and height were both measured at the time of the interview. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that maternal age (r2 0·015, P = 0·001), smoking status (r2 0·012, P = 0·036), and social support (r2 0·011, P = 0·006) were all independently associated with maternal BMI. If overweight women were at increased risk of maternal obesity, then the positive relationship between reproductive history and maternal BMI should be enhanced in this relatively obese community, yet the ANCOVA models showed no independent association between gravidity and maternal BMI after controlling for the effects of confounding factors. Although previous longitudinal studies have found a positive association between prepregnant weight and long-term weight gain, this relationship might arise because overweight women gain more weight over a fixed period of time than normal weight women, and therefore they may appear to be at greater risk of pregnancy-related weight gains. Overweight women are at greater risk of weight gain generally, but there is little unequivocal evidence to suggest that they are at any increased risk of maternal obesity, when compared with women of lower BMI.

Keywords

Maternal obesityWeight gainPregnancy
Type
Human and Clinical Nutrition
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 79 , Issue 6 , June 1998 , pp. 489 - 494
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1998

References

Baecke, JAH, Burema, J, Frijters, JER, Hautvast, JGAJ & Van der Wiel-Wetzels, WAM (1983) Obesity in young Dutch adults: I, socio-demographic variables and body mass index. International Journal of Obesity 7, 1–12.Google ScholarPubMed
Boardley, DJ, Sargent, RG, Coker, AL, Hussey, JR & Sharpe, PA (1995). The relationship between diet, activity, and other factors, and postpartum weight change by race. Obstetrics and Gynecology 86, 834–838.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, JE, Kaye, SA & Folsom, AR (1992) Parity-related weight change in women. International Journal of Obesity 16, 627–631.Google Scholar
Bruhn, JG (1991) People need people. Perspectives on the meaning and measurement of social support. Integrative Physiological and Behavioural Science 26, 325–329.Google Scholar
Bruhn, JG & Phillips, BU (1984) Measuring social support: a synthesis of current approaches. Journal of Behavioural Medicine 7, 151–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cederlöf, R & Kaij, L (1970) The effect of childbearing on body-weight. A twin control study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 219, Suppl., 47–49.Google Scholar
Ellison, GTH, Wagstaff, L, Cameron, N & De Wet, T (1997 a) Geographical differences in infant feeding patterns in disadvantaged communities. South African Medical Journal 87, 1025–1026.Google ScholarPubMed
Ellison, GTH, Wagstaff, L & De Wet, T (1997 b) Sociodemographic differences in infant feeding practices amongst children from Johannesburg and Soweto enrolled in South Africa's Birth to Ten study. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 56, 313A.Google Scholar
Greene, GW, Smiciklas-Wright, H, Scholl, TO & Karp, RJ (1988) Postpartum weight change in pregnancy: how much of the weight gained in pregnancy will be lost after delivery? Obstetrics and Gynecology 71, 701–707.Google Scholar
Harris, HE, Ellison, GTH & Holliday, M (1997 a) Is there an independent association between parity and maternal weight gain? Annals of Human Biology 24, 507–519.Google Scholar
Harris, HE, Ellison, GTH, Holliday, M & Lucassen, A (1997 b) The impact of pregnancy on the long-term weight gain of primiparous women in England. International Journal of Obesity 21, 747–755.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, HE, Ellison, GTH, Holliday, M & Lucassen, A (1997 c) Do the increased weight gain recommendations for pregnancy predispose parous women to obesity? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 56, 154A.Google Scholar
Harris, HE, Ellison, GTH, Richter, LM & De, Wet T (1996) Sociodemographic correlates of body mass index among African women from Johannesburg and Soweto. Annals of Human Biology 23, 173.Google Scholar
Health Survey for England 1995 (1997) Series HS no. 5 (Volume I: Findings) [Prescott-Clarke, P and Primatesta, P, editors]. London: H.M. Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Heliövaara, M & Aromaa, A (1981) Parity and obesity. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 35, 197–199.Google Scholar
Institute of Medicine (1990) Nutrition During Pregnancy. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Keppel, KG & Taffel, SM (1993) Pregnancy-related weight gain and retention: implications of the 1990 Institute of Medicine guidelines. American Journal of Public Health 83, 1100–1103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Öhlin, A & Rössner, S (1990) Maternal body weight development after pregnancy. International Journal of Obesity 14, 159–173.Google Scholar
Parker, JD & Abrams, B (1993) Differences in postpartum weight retention between black and white mothers. Obstetrics and Gynecology 81, 768–774.Google ScholarPubMed
Prentice, AM, Whitehead, RG, Roberts, SB & Paul, AA (1981) Long-term energy balance in child-bearing Gambian women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 34, 2790–2799.Google Scholar
Richter, LM, Yach, D, Cameron, N, Griesel, RD & de Wet, T (1995) Enrolment into Birth to Ten (BTT): population and sample characteristics. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 9, 109–120.Google Scholar
Rona, RJ & Morris, RW (1982) National Study of Health and Growth: social and family factors and overweight in English and Scottish parents. Annals of Human Biology 9, 147–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schauberger, CW, Rooney, BL & Brimer, LM (1992) Factors that influence weight loss in the puerperium. Obstetrics and Gynecology 79, 424–429.Google Scholar
Scholl, TO, Hediger, ML, Schall, JI, Ances, IG & Smith, WK (1995) Gestational weight gain, pregnancy outcome, and postpartum weight retention. Obstetrics and Gynecology 86, 423–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheldon, JH (1949) Maternal obesity. Lancet 2, 869–873.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens-Simon, C & McAnarney, ER (1992) Adolescent pregnancy. Gestational weight gain and maternal and infant outcomes. American Journal of Diseases of Children 146, 1359–1364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williamson, DF, Madans, J, Pamuk, E, Flegal, KM, Kendrick, JS & Serdula, MK (1994) A prospective study of childbearing and 10-year weight gain in US white women 25 to 45 years of age. International Journal of Obesity 18, 561–569.Google Scholar