Magnitude and Factors Associated with Gestational Weight Gain Adequacy among Pregnant Women in South Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia

Melaku Tadege Engidaw; Alemayehu Digssie Gebremariam; Bedilu Abebe Abate; Desalegn Tesfa; Sofonyas Abebaw Tiruneh; Yenehun Addisu; Yismaw Yimam Belachew

doi:10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.102031

Magnitude and Factors Associated with Gestational Weight Gain Adequacy among Pregnant Women in South Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia

Curr Dev Nutr. 2023 Nov 14;7(12):102031. doi: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.102031. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Melaku Tadege Engidaw^{1

2}, Alemayehu Digssie Gebremariam¹, Bedilu Abebe Abate¹, Desalegn Tesfa¹, Sofonyas Abebaw Tiruneh¹, Yenehun Addisu³, Yismaw Yimam Belachew³

Affiliations

¹ Public Health Department, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia.
² Public Health, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
³ Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: Weight gain during pregnancy depends on the maternal prepregnancy weight and height. Inappropriate weight gain has negative consequences, including the health care system and society because of its adverse birth outcomes.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the magnitude and factors associated with gestational weight gain in Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods: From September 2018 to June 2019, a community-based prospective follow-up study was conducted in Northwest Ethiopia. A total of 422 pregnant women were followed from conception to delivery and the data were collected using a multistage sampling technique. Stata 14 standard edition (SE) software was used for data analysis. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between dependent and independent variables. P value of ≤0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.

Results: Majority of the participants had normal weight gain [65.12%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 60.08, 69.85]. Besides this, the rate of inadequate and overadequate weight gain was 21.53% (95% CI: 17.60, 26.05) and 13.35% (95% CI: 10.22, 17.25), respectively. Inadequate weight gain was linked to meal frequency [adjusted odd ratio (AOR): 0.52, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.97], targeted supplementary feeding program (TSFP) enrollment (AOR: 2.47; 95% CI: 1.35, 4.50), parity (AOR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.62), and alcohol consumption history (AOR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.88), whereas overadequate weight gain was associated with residency (AOR: 5.22; 95% CI: 2.43, 11.22) and TSFP status (AOR: 2.22; 95% CI: 1.08, 4.57).

Conclusions: This study revealed a notable magnitude of both inadequate and overadequate weight gain. It found that good meal frequency, alcohol consumption, parity, and TSFP enrollment were associated with a reduced risk of inadequate weight gain during pregnancy. In addition, the study identified residence and TSFP enrollment as factors linked to overadequate weight gain during pregnancy.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Magnitude; pregnant women; prepregnancy BMI; weight gain adequacy.