Does Partial Meal Replacement During Pregnancy Reduce 12-Month Postpartum Weight Retention?

This randomized trial tested whether a behavioral intervention with meal replacements in pregnancy could increase the proportion of women who returned to prepregnancy weight and reduce postpartum weight retention by 12 months after delivery.

Women (N = 264; 13.7 weeks' gestation) with overweight or obesity were randomly assigned to usual care or intervention. The intervention reduced excess gestational weight gain and was discontinued at delivery. At follow-up, 83.7% completed the 12-month assessment.

Compared with usual care, prenatal intervention had no significant effect on odds of achieving prepregnancy weight (38/128 [29.7%] vs. 41/129 [31.8%]; P = 0.98) or in reducing the magnitude of weight retained (3.3 vs. 3.1 kg; P = 0.82) at 12 months. After delivery, significant (P < 0.0001) declines in meal replacements, practice of weight control behaviors, and dietary restraint were observed in the intervention group. Independent of group, lower gestational weight gain was the strongest predictor of achieving prepregnancy weight at 12 months (P = 0.0008).

A prenatal behavioral intervention with meal replacements that reduced pregnancy weight gain had no significant effect on 12-month postpartum weight retention.