Weight Change and Accumulation of Chronic Conditions in Women During Reproductive Years

We examined the association between BMI change and risk of multimorbidity among women of reproductive age and estimated annual weight gain before and after diagnosis of chronic conditions.

Data were from 8895 women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health who had no chronic conditions at baseline. BMI from Survey 1 (ages 18-23) and Survey 3 (ages 25-30) defined BMI change categories. Linear mixed models estimated annual weight gain from Survey 1 to Survey 9 (ages 43-49).

Compared to stable normal BMI, stable obesity and increasing BMI were associated with a higher risk of incident multimorbidity (OR = 1.79 [95% CI: 1.11, 2.90] and 1.34 [1.10, 1.63]). Women who remained free of chronic conditions gained 0.50 kg (0.48, 0.52) annually. Women with one condition gained 0.54 kg (0.52, 0.56): 0.55 (0.53, 0.57) before and 0.54 (0.51, 0.57) after diagnosis. Those with multimorbidity gained 0.65 kg (0.63, 0.67): 0.75 kg (0.70, 0.80) before the first, 0.60 kg (0.56, 0.64) between the first and second, and 0.57 kg (0.53, 0.61) after the second condition.

Although weight gain declined after diagnosis, it remained higher than among women without conditions, underscoring the need for improved post-diagnosis weight management.