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Is BMI a Useful Indicator of Prenatal Health Among Black American Women?

Kate Keenan¹, Alison E Hipwell², Stephanie D Stepp²

¹Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. kekeenan@uchicago.edu.

Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

|October 6, 2023

Objective:

BMI is commonly used to measure risk to prenatal health but may not be sensitive to adiposity-associated health problems for Black women. The aim of the present study was to test associations between indices of prenatal health and BMI in Black women.

Methods:

Data were from 652 women enrolled in two studies. Height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Depression and perceived stress were measured via maternal report, systemic inflammation via C-reactive protein (CRP), and nutrition by the ratio of omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid to omega-6 arachidonic acid fatty acids.

Results:

Neither perceived stress, depression, nor fatty acids were associated with prenatal BMI. CRP levels were positively associated with BMI (beta = 6.56, t = 13.30, p < .001). The prevalence of high-risk levels of CRP (> 3 mg/L) was below 10% for all weight classes except for BMI ≥ 40.

Conclusions:

Results suggest that BMI may not be a sensitive index of adiposity related risk to prenatal health for Black women.

Keywords:

Adiposity Black women Body mass index Pregnancy

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