Prenatal and postnatal factors associated with high weight retention in young Mexican women

Abstract

The objective was to explore prenatal and postnatal factors associated with weight retention (WR) at 3 months postpartum (pp) in Mexican women. Women were recruited as part of a randomized supplementation trial < 26 wks of pregnancy and followed to 3 m pp. We studied 415 women. Weight gain (WG) and weight retention were calculated from recruitment to each follow‐up period, representing an underestimation of true weight change. High WR at 3 m pp was defined as > 2.2 kg. Mean age at recruitment was 27.4±5.8 y, gestational age 20.7±5.7 wks. At 3 m pp, mean WR was −0.1±4.0 kg, and 25% of women had high WR. Nearly 40% of women were overweight (25.0–29.9) and 21% obese (≥30) at 3 m pp. Compared to women with lower WR, women with high WR were younger, had higher WG in the second half of pregnancy, had higher WG from the 1st to 3rd m pp and were more sedentary. In multivariate analysis, every kg of WG during pregnancy and from 1 to 3 mo pp, the risk of having a high WR increases by 43% (95% CI 1.3–1.6) and 66% (95% CI 1.4–1.9), respectively. The risk of having a high WR increased for every hour of sitting in the day by 13% (95% CI 1.001–1.3). The results of this study underscore the importance of appropriate WG during pregnancy and in early pp to avoid excess WR. The Oportunidades program is an ideal venue to promote healthy weight gain and physical activity during and after pregnancy.Founding: Oportunidades program, holding the rites to the data presented.