title: Nine months postpartum weight retention predictors for Brazilian women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify factors potentially associated with weight retention measured 9 months after childbirth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study with four follow-up waves in time (0.5, 2, 6 and 9 months postpartum).
  
  
  METHODS
  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and sixty-six Brazilian women of childbearing age. Analysis was based on hierarchical logistic regression. The dependent variable was weight retention and was defined as the difference between weight at 9 months postpartum and pre-pregnancy weight, with a dichotomised cut-off at 7.5 kg. Covariates included demographic and socio-economic data, obstetric history, anthropometric data, and data on the infant. These data were grouped in blocks and ordered according to their influence on the dependent variable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the women studied, 19.2% presented weight retention values > or =7.5 kg. According to the logistic regression analysis, the following variables remained associated with weight retention > or =7.5 kg: total family income, difficulty or inability to read a letter, age category > or =30 years, age at first childbirth <23 years, gestational weight gain > or =12 kg, body fat at baseline > or =30% and infant birth weight <3500 g. Infant hospitalisation was only marginally significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Determinant factors identified by the analysis highlight the need for nutritional intervention policies during pregnancy and in the first months postpartum as a way of minimising obesity and the diseases resulting from it.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Applied Nutrition, Institute of Nutrition, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-590, Brazil. gkac@gbl.com.br
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kac
authors.forename: Maria H D A
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Benicio
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Velásquez-Meléndez
authors.forename: Joaquim G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Valente
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D015984:Causality; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology*