Falling Short of Guidelines? Nutrition and Weight Gain Knowledge in Pregnancy

The objective of this study was to characterize pregnant women's gestational weight gain (GWG) knowledge and awareness of healthy eating behaviors known to impact GWG.

Formative research was conducted including semi-structured individual interviews and focus group interviews. The participants were mostly Caucasian pregnant women (N = 30; Mage = 28 years old) residing in a suburban/rural region of Central Pennsylvania. Descriptive and thematic analyses were used to examine the primary outcomes of GWG and healthy eating knowledge and informational sources.

Many women had no knowledge of how much GWG they should gain in pregnancy (42%). Women appeared to have adequate knowledge on foods they should avoid eating during pregnancy. However, one-fourth of women indicated that they did not feel as though they received adequate information from their healthcare provider about the foods they should be eating and how to meet the healthy eating recommendations. Therefore, one-fourth of women reported using non-healthcare provider resources (e.g., magazines, internet) with questionable reliability to obtain healthy eating guidance.

These exploratory findings show that pregnant women have some knowledge of the GWG and healthy eating guidelines; however, most women received this information from a non-healthcare provider resource. Focused efforts are needed to educate pregnant women about GWG and healthy eating using accurate and reliable sources andencourage strategies to meet guidelines in an effort to promote healthy GWG.