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Perception of Weight Status and its Impact on Gestational Weight Gain in an Urban Population

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Abstract

To examine the association between actual and perceived overweight/obese status and excess gestational weight gain (GWG). As part of an infant feeding trial, multi-ethnic lower and moderate income women-completed a checklist of current health conditions, including “overweight/obesity,” “asthma,” and “hypertension” while pregnant. Odds of excessive GWG per the Institute of Medicine guidelines in ‘accurate’ versus ‘inaccurate’ reporters, by overweight status were analyzed with multivariate logistic regression for women with pre-or early pregnancy BMIs of ≥18.5. 775 women met study criteria. Just 21 % (n = 107) of overweight/obese women accurately identified their weight status, compared to >90 % accurate report of documented hypertension or asthma. Compared to normal-weight accurate reporters, the adjusted odds of excessive GWG in overweight/obese women was 2.3 (95 % CI 1.4, 3.7) in accurate reporters, and 2.5 (95 % CI 1.7, 3.4) in inaccurate reporters. Overweight/obesity is associated with excessive GWG, but this risk is not modified by inaccurate reporting/perception of weight-status.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD04976301) and from the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities. (P60 MD 00516).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Care Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, 150 East 32nd St., Suite 101, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Shilpi S. Mehta-Lee

  2. Department of Family and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Jennifer L. Lischewski Goel & Karen A. Bonuck

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Waco, TX, USA

    Linzhi Xu

  4. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, UMDNJ, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Mindy R. Brittner

  5. Obstetrics and Gynecology and Women’s Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA

    Peter S. Bernstein

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  1. Shilpi S. Mehta-Lee
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  2. Jennifer L. Lischewski Goel
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  3. Linzhi Xu
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Correspondence to Shilpi S. Mehta-Lee.

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Mehta-Lee, S.S., Lischewski Goel, J.L., Xu, L. et al. Perception of Weight Status and its Impact on Gestational Weight Gain in an Urban Population. Matern Child Health J 17, 1931–1939 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1219-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1219-8

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