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Correlates of dietary quality and weight retention in postpartum women.

Fowles ER, Walker LO

Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-5810, USA. erfowle@ilstu.edu

The purpose of this study(1) was to identify correlates of dietary quality and postpartum weight retention in women and to examine the association of dietary quality and weight retention. A secondary analysis was conducted of data from 100 women who delivered singleton babies and were over 18 years of age. In sum, 44 women had adequate dietary quality. Most women had adequate intake of meat (79%), milk (66%), and fruit (51%) but not bread (14%) or vegetables (24%). Dietary quality was significantly associated with breast-feeding (rs = .378, p < .000). Dietary quality was not associated with postpartum weight retention. In all, 43% of the variance in postpartum retained weight was explained by weight gained during pregnancy and weight-related distress. A gap exists in the nutrition education and weight management of women after childbirth that allows for a reversal of the healthy eating patterns adopted during pregnancy and throughout the ensuing postpartum life transition.

Published 25 July 2006 in J Community Health Nurs, 23(3): 183-97.
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