Beliefs, Barriers, and Preferences of European Overweight Women to Adopt a Healthier Lifestyle in Pregnancy to Minimize Risk of Developing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: An Explorative Study

Table 1

Characteristics of participating overweight and obese pregnant women ().

Characteristic	Number of participants,; interview (total )	Number of participants,; questionnaire (total )
Age
Younger than 30 years	8 (38%)	23 (32%)
Between 30 and 35 years	10 (48%)	23 (32%)
Older than 35 years	3 (14%)	25 (35%)
Educational level
Academic graduate	8 (38%)	21 (30%)
Higher education graduate	8 (38%)	3 (4%)
High-school graduate	2 (10%)	26 (37%)
Vocational training	2 (10%)	11 (16%)
Primary school	1 (5%)	9 (13%)
Unknown	—	1 (1%)
Country of birth
Netherlands	10 (48%)	—
Belgium	6 (29%)	—
United Kingdom	5 (24%)	—
Italy	—	20 (28%)
Spain	—	10 (14%)
Ireland	—	10 (14%)
Poland	—	10 (14%)
Austria	—	11 (16%)
Denmark	—	10 (14%)
Both parents born in Europe	19 (90%)	59 (83%)
One of the parents born elsewhere	2 (10%)	12 (17%)
Parity
Nulliparous	8 (38%)	28 (39%)
Parous	13 (62%)	43 (61%)
Pregnant	15 (71%)	66 (93%)
Already given birth	6 (29%)	5 (7%)
Experience with GDM prevention program
None	16 (76%)	71 (100%)
Yes	5 (24%)	—