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Covariates of maternal overweight and obesity and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: findings from a nationwide cross sectional survey

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Abstract

Background/Objectives

India is currently witnessing a rapid growth in obesity epidemic. We examined the covariates of overweight and obesity and the association between overweight and obesity and adverse pregnancy outcomes among adult married women in northern India.

Subjects/Methods

The analysis is based on 5,273 ever-married women of reproductive age (15–49) in the states of Delhi and Punjab, included in India’s second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2), conducted in 1998–1999. Body mass index (BMI) was used to define the terms overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2). Adverse pregnancy outcome was defined as a miscarriage or stillbirth. Binary and multinomial logistic regression methods were used to estimate the effects of the covariates ofn overweight and obesity and effects of overweight and obesity on adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Results

Age, urban residence, media habits, anemia status, and economic living standard are most important covariates of overweight and obesity among women in India. A separate analysis by women’s age finds that media habits and living standard are more important covariates for older women (30–49), whereas place of residence and education are more important covariates for younger women (15–29). The study also finds that overweight and obese women age 15–29 are significantly more likely to have experienced adverse pregnancy outcome (miscarriage or a stillbirth) in their lifetime. This relationship is not observed among older women.

Conclusions

The results are useful in identifying population groups for public health campaigns to promote appropriate diets and effective lifestyles to prevent the obesity epidemic and associated adverse pregnancy outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to Gayle Yamashita for computer programming and Sally Dai for research assistance. Authors are also thankful to Tim Dyson, P.N. Mari Bhat, and Kamla Gupta for useful comments on an earlier draft. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the IUSSP Asia-Pacific Regional Population Conference in Bangkok, 10–13 June 2002.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organizational Learning and Evaluation, International Planned Parenthood Federation South Asia Regional Office, IPPF House, 66 Sunder Nagar, New Delhi, 110003, India

    Praween Agrawal

  2. Population Policy Section, United Nations, Manhattan, NY, 10017, USA

    Vinod Mishra

  3. South Asia Network for Chronic Disease, Public Health Foundation of India, C1/52, First floor, SDA, New Delhi, 110016, India

    Sutapa Agrawal

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  1. Praween Agrawal
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  2. Vinod Mishra
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  3. Sutapa Agrawal
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Correspondence to Sutapa Agrawal.

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Author’s contribution

PA conceived the study, analyzed and interpreted the data, and wrote manuscript. VM contributed to the conceptualization of the study, analysis and interpretation of the results, discussion, and reviewed/edited manuscript. SA contributed to introduction and discussion and reviewed/edited manuscript. All authors approve the final version of the paper.

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Agrawal, P., Mishra, V. & Agrawal, S. Covariates of maternal overweight and obesity and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: findings from a nationwide cross sectional survey. J Public Health 20, 387–397 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-011-0477-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-011-0477-4

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