With research showing most women either gain too much weight during pregnancy or not enough, a new study by RMIT University and the Parenting Research Centre aims to find out why.
“A Healthy Path to Motherhood” will explore what influences women’s health behaviours and weight gain during pregnancy, with the aim of improving the effectiveness of current treatment programs.
Pregnant women aged over 18 and within the first 18 weeks of pregnancy are needed to take part in the study, which involves completing two surveys about eating, physical activity and weight, as well as possible influencing factors including mood, body image, and fatigue.
RMIT doctoral researcher Jessica Tata said previous studies suggested fewer than 40 per cent of women gained the recommended weight during pregnancy, with 40 per cent gaining too much and 20 per cent too little.
“There are multiple health risks associated with being underweight or overweight during pregnancy for both the mother and baby, including pregnancy complications, low and high infant birth weight, as well as increased risk of post-partum weight retention for those who gain too much weight,” Ms Tata said.
“While we know the risks, the results of current treatment programs have been mixed.
“We need a better understanding of the influences on health behaviours and weight gain during pregnancy to improve the effectiveness of these interventions.”
Ms Tata said previous research had identified important factors that influenced health behaviours and weight gain, such as stress, social support and body image.
“This study is unique in comprehensively considering health behaviours, weight gain as well as a range of lifestyle influences such as the thoughts, behaviours and emotions associated with body image and eating,” she said.
“This approach will allow us to explore in depth the relationships and relative importance of these factors on healthy weight gain.”
For more information or to volunteer, contact Jessica Tata (
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), research supervisor Associate Professor Jan Matthews (
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), or phone the Parenting Research Centre on (03) 8660 3500.
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