Disordered Eating Behaviors Are Associated with Gestational Weight Gain in Adolescents

Abstract

Disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) and adolescent pregnancy are public health problems. Among adolescents, there is little evidence concerning the relationship of DEB with gestational weight gain (GWG) and the birth weight and length of their offspring. We aimed to determine the association between DEB with GWG and the weight and length of adolescents’ offspring. We conducted a study with 379 participants. To evaluate DEB, we applied a validated scale. We identified three factors from DEB by factorial analysis: restrictive, compensatory, and binge–purge behaviors. The main events were GWG and offspring’s birth weight and length. We performed linear regression models. We found that 50% of adolescents have at least one DEB. Excessive and insufficient GWG were 37 and 34%, respectively. The median GWG was 13 kg; adolescents with restrictive behaviors had higher GWG (13 vs. 12 kg, p = 0.023). After adjusting for pregestational body mass index and other covariables, the restrictive (β = 0.67, p = 0.039), compensatory (β = 0.65, p = 0.044), and binge–purge behaviors (β = 0.54, p = 0.013) were associated with higher GWG. We did not find an association between the birth weight and length of newborns with DEB, and suggest that DEB is associated with GWG but not with the birth weight or length of the offspring.

Suboptimal gestational weight gain and neonatal outcomes in low and middle income countries: individual participant data meta-analysis

“…Non-response or delay in executing the data contributor agreement, withdrawal, missingness of gestational age data or retrospective data collection led to the exclusion of several studies (supplementary fig 1). Data from 53 studies were included in this pooled analysis examining the associations between GWG adequacy and neonatal outcomes (supplementary tables 1-3) 30313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778. We systematically assessed that the variables included in the analysis were defined consistently across all studies and evaluated the potential for selection, attrition, and measurement biases for each study using the Quality in Prognosis Studies tool (supplementary table 4) 79.…”

“…Data from 53 studies were included in this pooled analysis examining the associations between GWG adequacy and neonatal outcomes (supplementary tables 1-3). 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 We systematically assessed that the variables included in the analysis were defined consistently across all studies and evaluated the potential for selection, attrition, and measurement biases for each study using the Quality in Prognosis Studies tool (supplementary table 4). 79 Participants were excluded from these analyses if data on gestational age, date of delivery, or maternal height (an essential measure for the assessment of maternal BMI before pregnancy) were missing.…”

Eating Habits and Disease Risk Factors

“…It is also supposed that disordered eating behaviours may impact newborn birth characteristics. The study of Sámano et al [ 15 ] supported a relationship with newborn health outcomes; they found that stronger restrictive, compensatory, and binge–purge eating disorders may lead to an increased gestation weight gain in adolescent mothers [ 15 ], which can indirectly modulate newborns’ health parameters in their development.…”