Adolescent pregnancy and subsequent obesity in African-American girls

J Adolesc Health. 1994 Sep;15(6):491-4. doi: 10.1016/1054-139x(94)90497-q.

Abstract

Purpose: Obesity is a significant contemporary health problem among African-American women. This study investigates whether excessive gestational weight gain during adolescent pregnancy is associated with subsequent obesity.

Methods: Thirty previously pregnant African-American adolescents on whom there were extensive extant anthropometric and psychosocial data were evaluated approximately 3.3 years following delivery.

Results: Rapid gestational weight gain (> .40 kg/wk) was associated with a 19.9% increase in body mass index (BMI); average gestational weight gain (.23 to .40 kg/wk) was associated with a 13.2% increase, and slow gestational weight gain (< .23 kg/wk) was associated with a 3.4% increase (difference between rapid and slow, p < 0.05). Adolescents who had high prepregnant BMIs were massively obese subsequently.

Conclusions: 1. Rapid gestational weight gain is associated with a significantly greater percent change in the BMI compared with the slow gestational weight gain in adolescent pregnancy. 2. Adolescents who are obese prior to their first pregnancy often become even more obese on average 3.3 years following pregnancy. Such adolescents may be at particular risk of retaining gestational weight gain, and the consequences of their morbid obesity may be ultimately life-threatening.

PIP: The goal is to determine whether there is a relationship between high gestational weight gain and subsequent obesity in women who are pregnant as adolescents. 30 young women who were approximately 3.3 years postpartum from their first pregnancies were asked to return to the hospital for an interview and anthropometric measurements. They had participated in an anthropometric study of gestational weight gain and neonatal outcome when they were less than 20 years of age. 83% were primiparous, and all had singleton live-born infants. The subjects were primarily young, poor, single black women with approximately 11 years of education. The study group was divided into three sub-groups according to gestational weight gain categories: rapid (0.40 kg/week), average (0.23-0.40 kg/week), and slow (0.23 kg/week). The three groups had similar background variables, including maternal age, medical insurance, marital status, years of education, subjects' mothers' mean body mass index (BMI), and cigarette and alcohol use. Adolescents with rapid gestational weight gain had an increase in their BMI (weight in kg/height in m) of 19.9% between prepregnant and subsequent BMI. In contrast, a slow gestational weight gain was associated with a subsequent 3.4% increase, and average gestational weight gain was associated with a 13.2% increase. The difference between the BMI change of the rapid and slow gestational weight gain groups was statistically significant. Adolescents who had high BMIs (BMI or= 26) when they became pregnant had the highest mean subsequent BMI (34.8 +or- 3.8). Adolescents who had a low BMI (BMI 19.8) when they became pregnant had the lowest subsequent BMI. Those women who started pregnancy with high BMIs were morbidly obese on follow-up (mean = 91.1 kg) and gained an average of 13 kilograms. The percent increase was 17% each for the high and average gestational weight groups and 12.5% for the low group.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Black or African American*
  • Body Mass Index
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Obesity / diagnosis
  • Obesity / ethnology*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy in Adolescence / ethnology*
  • Puerperal Disorders / diagnosis
  • Puerperal Disorders / ethnology*
  • Risk Factors
  • Weight Gain