Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026

Instrumentation of Near-term Fetal Sheep for Multivariate Chronic Non-anesthetized Recordings
Published on: October 25, 2015
Fibre intake and evolution of BMI: from pre-pregnancy to postpartum
Michele Drehmer1, Suzi Alves Camey, Maria Angélica Nunes
1Graduate Studies Program in Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Ramiro Barcelos no. 2600 - 4° andar - sala 419, CEP 90035-003, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. michele.drehmer@gmail.com
Objective:
To evaluate the effect of fibre intake on the evolution of maternal BMI from pregnancy to postpartum and to identify dietary patterns associated with fibre intake.
Design:
Cohort study. Food intake was obtained using an FFQ. Focused principal component analysis was used focusing on the variables: postpartum weight retention and total dietary fibre intake. Poisson regression models with robust variance were built in order to measure the effect of fibre intake during the postpartum period on obesity risk.
Setting:
Primary care clinics in southern Brazil.
Subjects:
Pregnant women (n 370) were followed until the 5th month postpartum.
Results:
The highest contribution to fibre intake came from the consumption of beans. Consumption of bread and rice indicated a common Brazilian food pattern along with beans. Participants retained a median of 4.4 (interquartile range 0.6, 7.9) kg of weight gained during pregnancy. Obesity risk, defined as an unfavourable evolution of BMI during pregnancy and postpartum, was present in 189 (55.1%) women. Individual food items did not have an important effect on weight retention. In Poisson regression adjusting for maternal age, pre-pregnancy BMI and total gestational weight gain, inadequate postpartum fibre intake increased obesity risk by 24% (relative risk 51.24; 95% CI 1.05, 1.47).
Conclusions:
Important maternal weight retention occurred in these women. Adequate fibre intake may reduce obesity risk in the period following childbirth.
Related Concept Videos
Anatomy of the Intestines
Small Intestines
The small intestine is an ~7 meter-long tube with an inner diameter of just 2.5 cm. Since most nutrients are absorbed here, the inner lining of the small...
Development of the Oral Microbiota
Development of Human Microbiota
Obesity
Regulation of Food Intake
Metabolic States of the Body: The Postabsorptive State
Initially, glycogen stored in the liver is broken down to release glucose into the bloodstream, while glycogen in the muscles is broken down to supply glucose for energy directly within the muscle cells. As glycogen stores diminish,...
