2021 Volume 87 Issue 1 Pages 15-26
In Japan, mean birth weight has decreased and prevalence of low birth weight babies is higher than other OECD countries. We examined the relationship of maternal weight gain with dietary intake and smoking during pregnancy.
Women with singleton pregnancies without any complications who had prenatal medical check ups at a hospital in Tokyo from July 2012 to August 2013 were selected as potential participants. They were informed of appropriate weight gain according to their BMI before pregnancy and provided a leaflet regarding healthy diet at 15-20 weeks gestation. After that, midwives assessed weight gain status and gave brief dietary advice at each check-up. Seventy-six women with “insufficient” or “excess” weight gain around 28 weeks gestation were requested to record three-day food intakes and were given individualized dietary advice on their records by dieticians. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted using weight gain status from 28 weeks gestation to delivery (inadequate＝0, adequate＝1) as a dependent variable.
Regarding smoking, odds ratios could not be calculated because no couples in “adequate” group smoked. A significant promoting factor for maternal adequate weight gain was the number of days with milk and dairy products consumption (OR＝2.20 (95% CI＝1.10-4.37)) that was counted from the dietary records. In addition to their nutritional values, consumption of milk and dairy products has been pointed out as an indicator of good dietary behavior, and therefore, could be the reason for appropriate weight gain during pregnancy.
