TRENDS IN EATING PATTERNS, PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS IN RELATION TO POSTPARTUM BODY-WEIGHT DEVELOPMENT

'The Stockholm Pregnancy and Weight Development Study' was conducted t o identify risk factors for postpartum weight retention, such as dieta ry habits, physical activity and socio-demographic factors. The body w eight development of 1423 pregnant women was studied prospectively fro m the beginning of the pregnancy until 1 year postpartum. Data were co llected from routine pregnancy records and from questionnaires 6 and 1 2 months postpartum Mean weight retention 1 year postpartum was 0.5 kg compared with the prepregnancy body weight. A 'trend method' was cons tructed to identify a number of pre-defined major patterns of behaviou r. The weight retention 1 year postpartum was greater in women who (a) increased their energy intake during and after pregnancy, (b) increas ed their snack eating after pregnancy to three or more snacks/d, and ( c) decreased their lunch frequency starting during or after the pregna ncy. Women who had retained greater than or equal to 5 kg 1 year postp artum were more seldom physically active in their leisure time through out the study period compared with women with a smaller weight gain. P ostpartum weight retention correlated negatively with the degree of ph ysical activity in the second half year postpartum. These results indi cate that postpartum weight retention is more affected by a change in lifestyle during, and above all after, pregnancy than by factors befor e pregnancy.