Dietary behaviors, physical activity, and cigarette smoking among pregnant Puerto Rican women.
BACKGROUND
Few studies have examined predictors of meeting health guidelines in pregnancy among Latina women.


OBJECTIVE
We assessed dietary behaviors, physical activity, and cigarette smoking in the Latina Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Study, a prospective cohort of 1231 prenatal care patients.


METHODS
Self-reported information on lifestyle factors, demographics, medical history, and physical activity was collected by bilingual interviewers during pregnancy. Fruit/vegetable intake was determined by summing the reported consumption of specific fruit and vegetables on a food-frequency questionnaire designed for this population and then adjusted for reported total daily servings.


RESULTS
Approximately 13% of women met physical activity guidelines [>or=10 metabolic equivalents (MET)-h/wk], 19% met fruit/vegetable guidelines (7 servings/d), 21% of women smoked, and 1.4% consumed alcohol during pregnancy. In multivariate analyses, Spanish-language preference, an indicator of less acculturation, was associated with an approximately 40% less likelihood of both smoking [odds ratio (OR): 0.6; 95% CI: 0.4, 0.8] and meeting physical activity guidelines (OR: 0.6; 95% CI: 0.3, 1.0). College education was associated with a 2-fold greater likelihood of meeting fruit/vegetable guidelines (OR: 2.2; 95% CI: 1.1, 4.3) and a lower likelihood of smoking (OR: 0.2; 95% CI: 0.1, 0.4). A history of adverse pregnancy outcome was associated with a >4-fold greater likelihood of meeting physical activity guidelines. Smoking in pregnancy was associated with a decreased likelihood of meeting the fruit/vegetable guidelines (RR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3, 0.9).


CONCLUSIONS
Factors related to engagement in prenatal health behaviors should be addressed in the design of targeted intervention strategies in this underserved and rapidly growing population.
Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
Audra
A
Gollenberg
Penelope
P
Pekow
Glenn
G
Markenson
Katherine L
KL
Tucker
Lisa
L
Chasan-Taber
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011647:Puerto Rico; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D014675:Vegetables; D015430:Weight Gain