Prevention of Postpartum Weight Retention

描述（由申请人提供）：肥胖已达到流行病的比例，并代表了严重的公共卫生问题，在美国。治疗肥胖的努力只取得了一定的成功，注意力已经转向预防体重增加，而不是治疗肥胖。虽然从怀孕前到产后一年的平均体重增加是2公斤，但大约25%的妇女在此期间增加5公斤或更多。此外，最近的一项研究发现，近44%的正常体重的妇女在产后12个月时保持了大量的体重（M= 4.8公斤），在以后的生活中变得超重。因此，怀孕期间似乎是预防工作的重要时期。从怀孕前到怀孕后体重增加的最强预测因素是怀孕期间体重增加的幅度。医学研究所（IOM）已经制定了怀孕期间健康体重增加的具体建议。然而，超过三分之一的正常体重妇女和三分之二的超重妇女在怀孕期间超过了建议的体重增加水平。因此，帮助妇女在怀孕期间通过健康饮食和体育活动获得推荐的量将对防止过度体重保持做出重大贡献。本研究的主要目的是确定怀孕期间的行为生活方式干预是否可以减少体重正常和超重的妇女人数，这些妇女超过了IOM建议的怀孕期间体重增加。我们计划招募400名经产妇女，并随机分配这些妇女接受常规护理或干预，以促进怀孕期间的健康体重增加。干预组将每周收到教育材料，体重监测与反馈，并支持电话。所有女性将从妊娠早期至产后1年接受随访。我们认为这个项目是重要的，因为它涉及预防体重增加，这是一个主要的健康问题。该研究也具有创新性;目前还没有足够的随机对照试验来评估怀孕期间提供的行为生活方式干预对促进健康体重增加和预防持续产后体重保持的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and represents a serious public health problem in the United States. Efforts to treat obesity have been only moderately successful, and attention has shifted toward prevention of weight gain, rather than treatment of obesity. Although average weight gain from pre- pregnancy to one-year postpartum is 2 kg, approximately 25 percent of women gain 5 kg or more during this period. Moreover, a recent study found that nearly 44 percent of normal weight women who had retained significant amounts of weight (M= 4.8 kg) at 12 months postpartum became overweight later in life. Thus, the period surrounding pregnancy appears to be an important time for prevention efforts. The single strongest predictor of weight gain from pre-to post-pregnancy is the magnitude of weight gained during pregnancy. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has formulated specific recommendations for healthy weight gain during pregnancy. However, more than one-third of normal weight women and two thirds of overweight women exceed recommended levels of weight gain during pregnancy. Thus, helping women gain the recommended amount during pregnancy through healthy eating and physical activity would make a major contribution to preventing excessive weight retention. The principal aim of this study is to determine whether behavioral lifestyle intervention during pregnancy can reduce the number of normal weight and overweight women who exceed the IOM recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy. We propose to recruit 400 primiparous women and randomly assign these women to receive usual care or Intervention to Promote Healthy Weight Gain During Pregnancy. The Intervention group will receive weekly educational materials, weight monitoring with feedback, and supportive phone calls. All women will be followed from early pregnancy to 1-year postpartum. We believe this project is significant because it deals with the prevention of weight gain, which is a major health problem. The study is also innovative; there have been no adequately powered randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of a behavioral lifestyle intervention delivered during pregnancy to promote healthy weight gain and prevent sustained postpartum weight retention.