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Gestational weight gain among minority adolescents predicts term birth weight

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Abstract

Background

In adolescents, there is limited evidence on the independent and additive effect of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain on infant birth weight. Data also show that this effect may vary by race. We sought to examine the impact of maternal prepregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain on birth weight and risk of large for gestational age (LGA) in term newborns of minority adolescent mothers.

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study of 411 singleton live term infants born to mothers ≤ 18 years. Data were abstracted from electronic medical records.

Results

Gestational weight gain was related to infant birth weight (ρ = 0.36, P < 0.0001), but BMI was not (ρ = 0.025, P = 0.61). On regression analysis, gestational weight gain, gestational age and Hispanic ethnicity were independent predictors of birth weight, controlling for maternal age, BMI, parity, tobacco/drug use and preeclampsia. The probability of having an LGA infant increased with weight gain [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07–1.21] but not with BMI. Mothers who gained weight in excess of 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations had a greater risk of having an LGA infant compared to those who gained within recommendations (aOR 5.7, 95% CI 1.6–19.5).

Conclusions

Minority adolescents with greater gestational weight gain had infants with higher birth weight and greater risk of LGA; BMI was not associated with either outcome. Further studies are needed to examine the applicability of the 2009 BMI-specific IOM gestational weight gain recommendations to adolescents in minority populations.

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Funding

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, Einstein Medical Center, 5501 Old York Road, Paley 1321, Philadelphia, PA, 19141, USA

    Maheswari Ekambaram, Matilde Irigoyen, Johelin DeFreitas, Sharina Rajbhandari & Jessica Lynn Geaney

  2. Office for Research and Technology Development, Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Leonard Edward Braitman

Authors
  1. Maheswari Ekambaram
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  2. Matilde Irigoyen
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  3. Johelin DeFreitas
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  4. Sharina Rajbhandari
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  5. Jessica Lynn Geaney
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  6. Leonard Edward Braitman
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Contributions

ME conceptualized and designed the study, involved in data acquisition and analysis, and drafted the initial version of the manuscript. MI designed the study, involved in data analysis and interpretation, and drafted the initial version of the manuscript. JDF, SR and JLG contributed to data acquisition and analysis, and critical appraisal the manuscript. LEB contributed to data analysis and interpretation, and critical revision of manuscript. All authors approved the final version as submitted.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maheswari Ekambaram.

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Ethical approval

This study has been approved by Einstein Healthcare Network Institutional Review Board.

Conflict of interest

No financial or nonfinancial benefits have been received or will be received from any party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. None of the authors has any competing interests to report.

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Ekambaram, M., Irigoyen, M., DeFreitas, J. et al. Gestational weight gain among minority adolescents predicts term birth weight. World J Pediatr 14, 357–363 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-018-0143-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-018-0143-9

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