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A U shaped relationship exists between food insecurity and excessive gestational weight gain among low‐income Latinas
Author(s) -
HromiFiedler Amber,
BermúdezMillán Angela,
Chapman Donna,
PérezEscamilla Sofia,
Damio Grace,
MelgarQuiñonez Hugo,
PérezEscamilla Rafael
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.886.3
Subject(s) - weight gain , pregnancy , medicine , environmental health , food insecurity , food security , odds ratio , logistic regression , confidence interval , demography , low birth weight , geography , body weight , agriculture , biology , genetics , archaeology , pathology , sociology
The objective of this study was to examine the influence of food insecurity status on gestational weight gain among low‐income Latinas living in Hartford, CT (N=228). Food insecurity status during pregnancy was assessed using a modified version of the U.S. Household Food Security Scale. Households were classified as food secure, mildly food insecure, moderately food insecure, or severely food insecure. The Institute of Medicine recommendations were used to classify women as gaining less/within the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy or above the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy. Multivariate logistic regression evaluated predictors of excessive gestational weight gain. Women from moderately food insecure households were 23 times more likely than those from food secure households to gain excessive weight during pregnancy (Odds Ratio=23.70; Confidence Interval=2.07–271.04). By contrast, women with mild or severe household food insecurity during pregnancy were not more likely than those from food secure households to gain excessive gestational weight. These findings suggest there is a U shaped relationship between household food insecurity status during pregnancy and excessive gestational weight gain among low‐income pregnant Latinas. Funded by the Connecticut NIH EXPORT Center of Excellence for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos (NIH‐NCMHD Grant # P20MD0017650).