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Country development and the association between parity and overweight

International Journal of Obesity volume 31, pages 805–812 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Introduction:

Parity is associated with overweight and obesity in developed countries and has been related to maternal depletion in poor developing countries. However, the literature from developing countries is limited and may not represent current stages of development.

Methods:

We analyzed data from 50 Demographic and Reproductive Health Surveys conducted between 1992 and 2003. We examined the association between parity (proxied by number of live births) and overweight (body mass index (BMI)⩾25 kg/m2) in relation to level of country wealth and development.

Results:

The odds ratio (OR) for overweight comparing women with at least four live births to women with one live birth was >1.0 in 38 of the 50 countries studied. The median OR was >1.0 in all regions studied and highest in North Africa/West Asia, where all countries had OR >1.0. Country wealth and development were both positively associated with the ORs.

Conclusions:

The importance of parity as a predictor of overweight increases with national economic development and wealth. Policy implications might include the development and implementation of programs to prevent excessive gestational weight gain and promote postpartum weight loss via dietary change and physical activity, concomitant with exclusive breastfeeding.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Bridgette James and Kiersten Johnson at ORC Macro, Inc., for help in working with the data sets. We also thank Meng Wang for data analysis support. This work was supported by NIH R01 TW005598.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Nutrition and Health Sciences Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    S A Kim, A D Stein & R Martorell

  2. Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    A D Stein & R Martorell

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  1. S A Kim
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Correspondence to R Martorell.

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Kim, S., Stein, A. & Martorell, R. Country development and the association between parity and overweight. Int J Obes 31, 805–812 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803478

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