Weight, Lifestyle, and Health during Pregnancy and Beyond

Healthy weight and healthy lifestyle behaviours are considered as essential prerequisites for a successful pregnancy. The importance of maternal lifestyle including nutrition and physical activity in relation to the short-and long-term birth outcomes is increasingly featured in the literature [1–3]. Recently, more attention has been given to excessive gesta-tional weight gain and obesity as they are shown to significantly increase risks of complications during pregnancy and birth as well as elevating the risk of obesity in the offspring [4, 5]. While many western countries are mainly facing the challenge of obesity, most developing countries suffer from a dichotomy of ill health, resulting from both undernutrition and a rising trend in obesity affecting mothers and their babies [6]. There is a growing appreciation of interventions including elements of health psychology and behaviour change techniques (BCTs) in supporting health professionals to guide mothers in adapting a healthy lifestyle. These are also used to inform and motivate mothers to improve lifestyle during pregnancy to achieve healthier birth outcomes. This special issue includes 10 articles from various parts of the world, presenting research findings related to gestational weight management and behaviour change during and after pregnancy. Five articles focused on gestational weight management. One study highlighted the relationship between first-trimester weight gain and overall gestational weight gain (GWG) as well as showing the impact of racial differences so that Latina women gained more weight during pregnancy than their White counterparts in the United States of Amer-ica. This could offer interesting insights for developing GWG interventions sensitive to the needs of women in different BMI categories and ethnic backgrounds. Another study, using a qualitative approach, explored barriers to appropriate GWG and suggested a lack of sufficient knowledge about pregnancy weight gain goals and family pressures for " eating for two " as major obstacles in maintaining a healthy weight gain during pregnancy. The other two studies in this category assessed attitudes and experiences towards weighing during pregnancy from women's and clinicians' perspectives. The former reported that majority of women did not express any objection to being weighed during pregnancy but they indicated that there is a state of confusion and distrust with antenatal weight management interactions. The latter article suggested that while many clinicians support routine weighing during pregnancy, there are certain barriers such as inadequacy in systems and resources and lack of sufficient evidence in benefits of routine weighing which should be considered before …