Food insecurity during pregnancy and gestational weight gain

Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, known as food insecurity, has been associated with obesity and other adverse health outcomes, but has rarely been studied in pregnancy. Food insecurity may negatively affect behavioral and physiological changes during pregnancy and may be associated with poor perinatal outcomes including gestational weight gain.

Given the lack of information on the role of food insecurity in pregnancy and the possible relationship with perinatal outcomes such as gestational weight gain, the objective of this study was to examine the association between food insecurity and gestational weight gain in a diverse cohort of pregnant women.

This was an observational study of 299 English-speaking women who delivered live-born singleton gestations at ≥24 weeks at a single tertiary care center. During their postpartum hospitalizations, enrolled women completed a survey of food security status during pregnancy using the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey Module. Scores were analyzed as inadequate (marginal, low, or very low) vs adequate (high) food security. Women without prepregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain data were excluded. The primary outcome was gestational weight gain categorized as inadequate, adequate, or excessive based on 2009 National Academy of Medicine guidelines, which account for body mass index. Secondary outcomes included total gestational weight gain and other maternal and neonatal outcomes. Multivariable linear and multinomial logistic regressions were performed to assess the independent associations of food insecurity with gestational weight gain after controlling for potential confounding factors.

Of the 299 women enrolled in the study, 11.0% (n = 33) reported inadequate food security during pregnancy. Women with inadequate food security were younger (P = .007), had a greater mean body mass index (P < .001), were more likely to be non-Hispanic black or Hispanic (P < .001) and publicly insured (P < .001), but were less likely to be employed (P < .001). Women with inadequate food security also had fewer prenatal visits (P < .001) and were less likely to have initiated prenatal care in the first trimester (P < .001). The occurrence of excessive gestational weight gain did not differ by food security status (33.3% inadequate food security vs. 43.6% adequate food security, an adjusted relative risk ratio of 0.42, 95% confidence interval 0.16 - 1.14). Median total gestational weight gain was lower for women with inadequate food security (9.2 kg, interquartile range 7.5 - 14.1) than for women with adequate food security (13.9 kg, interquartile range 10.6 - 16.7) (P < .001), and this difference persisted when controlling for potential confounders including prepregnancy body mass index (β = -2.5, 95% confidence interval -5.0 to -0.21).

In this diverse, urban population, more than 1 in 10 women experienced food insecurity during pregnancy. Inadequate food security was associated with lower median total gestational weight gain, but not with excessive gestational weight gain as determined by the 2009 National Academy of Medicine categories.