Environmental factors associated with excessive gestational weight gain: a meta-analysis and systematic review

Abstract

The aim is, systematically examine the scientific evidences that associated environmental factors (environment, social environment, environmental planning and spatial population distribution) with the excessive gestational weight gain. A meta-analysis and systematic review carried out as per the Cochrane Handbook recommendations and following the steps recommended by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes. The inclusion studies were done with the following PECO criteria: P-pregnant women, E-environmental factors, O-weight gain. The search procedure was conducted on the databases EMBASE, Web of Science, Cinahl, LILACS and MEDLINE (PubMed). The relationship between the socioeconomic factors of the micro-region of residence and gestational weight gain was evidenced by the linkage between residing in high-poverty neighborhoods and inadequate gestational weight gain. This study revealed the higher prevalence of excessive gestational weight gain in pregnant women those lives in urban areas. Environmental factors of the pregnant women’s residence area implicated in the excessive gestational weight gain. Our findings can therefore contribute to the development of public policies to prevent inadequate gestational weight gain.