Evaluation of Weight Gain, Eating Attitudes and Mindful Eating in Pregnant Women

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the eating attitudes and mindful eating of pregnant women. Methods: The study was conducted with 289 pregnant women between the ages of 20-45. A questionnaire which consisted of sociodemographic and pregnancy features, Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40) and Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ-30) was used. According to trimesters, weight gain was compared with the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Results: According to the prepreagnancy body mass index 28.4% were overweight and 8% were obese. While none of the underweight individuals gained weight above, none of the obese individuals achieved gain weight appropriate to the recommendations. The majority of the underweight and normal individuals (80% and 61%, respectively) gained weight appropriate IOM’s suggestions (p<0.001). Respectively 39% and 47.8% of the overweight and obese individuals gained weight above the recommendations. The average weight gain in the 2nd-3rd trimesters was appropriate in overweight (0.32±0.19 kg/week), while it was above the recommendations in obese (0.37±0.15 kg/week). The EAT-40 score of underweight participants was significantly higher than normal-overweight’s (p<0.05). However, there wasn’t significant difference between obese and other groups. The mean MEQ-30 scores of pregnant women is 86.8±11.10 and scores of underweight individuals was significantly lower than others (p<0.05). However, significant difference wasn't found between other prepregnancy body mass index and trimesters. Conclusion: Obese individuals have higher weight gain than the others during pregnancy. For the underweight individuals gain below the recommendations more often than the others. Underweight participants have higher EAT-40 and lower MEQ-30 scores.