Nutrition and exercise in overweight and obese postpartum women

This secondary analysis of a longitudinal, nonintervention study describes the nutritional and physical activity behavior of overweight and obese post partum women and the differences in nutrition and physical activity when pa rticipants are evaluated according to four weight categories: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. The sample consisted of 67 postpartal women [40 (60%) African American and 27 (40%) White] who gave birth vagina lly to healthy term infants. No differences were present when overweight an d obese women were compared with underweight and normal weight women relati ve to nutrition and physical activity. Nutritional imbalances were present for overweight and obese women relative to protein and fat intake. Overweig ht and obese postpartum women can be encouraged to lose weight using a nutr itionally balanced approach by decreasing fat and protein intake, maintaini ng an adequate carbohydrate intake, and increasing their folacin intake. Co pyright (C) 1999 by WB. Saunders Company.