Changing national guidelines is not enough: the impact of 1990 IOM recommendations on gestational weight gain among US women.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

Gestational weight gain (GWG) is associated with both long- and short-term maternal and child health outcomes, particularly obesity. Targeting maternal nutrition through policies is a potentially powerful pathway to influence these outcomes. Yet prior research has often failed to evaluate national policies and guidelines that address maternal and child health. In 1990, the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) released guidelines recommending different GWG thresholds based on women's pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), with the goal of improving infant birth weight. In this study, we employ quasi-experimental methods to examine whether the release of the IOM guidelines led to changes in GWG among a diverse and nationally representative sample of women.

Meth

SUBMITTER: Hamad R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5050079 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature