Obesity-Related Dietary Behaviors among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Pregnant and Postpartum Women
Table 1
Characteristics of pregnant and postpartum women by race/ethnicity.
Overall
Black
Hispanic
Caucasian
value
Number (%)
Number (%)
Number (%)
Number (%)
Individual demographic covariates
Maternal age
<0.0001
18–24
74 (34.9)
46 (48.4)
21 (33.3)
7 (13.0)
25–29
65 (30.7)
30 (31.6)
19 (30.2)
16 (29.6)
30–34
36 (17.0)
9 (9.5)
12 (19.0)
15 (27.8)
≥35
37 (17.4)
10 (10.5)
11 (17.5)
16 (29.6)
English language proficiency
<0.0001
Adequate
157 (74.1)
94 (98.9)
10 (15.9)
53 (100)
Language spoken at home
<0.0001
English
157 (75.1)
94 (100)
10 (16.1)
53 (100)
Marital status
<0.0001
Married/live-in partner
153 (68.6)
50 (52.6)
54 (85.7)
43 (79.6)
Childcare
0.04
Yes
43 (20.3)
46 (48.4)
16 (25.4)
24 (44.4)
Not required
86 (40.6)
31 (32.6)
31 (49.2)
19 (35.2)
No
81 (38.2)
18 (19.0)
14 (22.2)
11 (20.4)
Child under 5 years old
0.28
Yes
139 (65.6)
63 (66.3)
45 (71.4)
31 (57.4)
Education
<0.0001
≤grade 11
53 (25.2)
13 (13.8)
33 (53.2)
7 (13.0)
High school/GED
73 (34.8)
45 (47.9)
19 (30.7)
9 (16.6)
≥1-year college
84 (40.0)
36 (38.3)
10 (16.1)
38 (70.4)
Employment
<0.0001
Employed full/part time
75 (36.6)
34 (37.0)
14 (23.7)
27 (50.0)
Unemployed
52 (25.4)
31 (33.7)
12 (20.3)
9 (16.7)
Maternity leave
12 (5.89)
10 (10.9)
0 (0.0)
2 (3.7)
Disability
10 (4.9)
6 (6.5)
1 (1.7)
3 (5.5)
Homemaker
46 (22.4)
6 (6.5)
30 (50.8)
10 (18.6)
Student
10 (4.9)
5 (5.4)
2 (3.5)
3 (5.5)
Income
<0.0001
<10,000
49 (23.1)
33 (34.7)
11 (17.5)
5 (9.3)
10,000–19,999
41 (19.3)
18 (18.9)
16 (25.4)
7 (13.0)
20,000–34,999
23 (10.9)
13 (13.7)
7 (11.1)
3 (5.5)
35,000–49,999
10 (4.7)
5 (5.3)
2 (3.2)
3 (5.5)
>50,000
38 (17.9)
4 (4.2)
4 (6.3)
30 (55.6)
Declined to answer
51 (24.1)
22 (23.2)
23 (36.5)
6 (11.1)
Financial strain
0.003
Yes
92 (41.3)
46 (48.4)
29 (46.0)
12 (22.2)
No
127 (56.9)
48 (50.5)
31 (49.2)
42 (77.8)
Access to care
Insurance
<0.0001
Private
51 (25.3)
14 (15.1)
5 (8.9)
32 (60.4)
Medicaid
110 (54.5)
74 (79.6)
15 (26.8)
21 (39.6)
Medicare
4 (2.0)
3 (3.2)
1 (1.8)
0 (0.0)
Uninsured
37 (18.3)
2 (2.1)
35 (62.5)
0 (0.0)
Primary care physician
<0.0001
Yes
131 (58.7)
69 (72.6)
12 (19.0)
45 (83.3)
No
90 (40.4)
25 (26.3)
50 (79.4)
9 (16.7)
Do not know
2 (0.9)
1 (1.1)
1 (1.6)
0 (0.0)
Medical status
Pregnancy status
0.1
Pregnant
179 (84.4)
83 (87.4)
48 (76.2)
48 (88.9)
Postpartum
33 (15.6)
12 (12.6)
15 (23.8)
6 (11.1)
Prepregnancy BMI
<0.0001
<18.5
5 (2.3)
2 (2.1)
1 (1.6)
2 (3.7)
18.5–24.9
50 (23.6)
17 (17.9)
9 (14.3)
24 (44.4)
25–29.9
49 (23.1)
22 (23.2)
15 (23.8)
12 (22.2)
30–39.9
60 (28.3)
37 (38.9)
10 (15.9)
13 (24.1)
>40.0
15 (7.1)
11 (11.6)
2 (3.2)
2 (3.7)
NR
33 (15.6)
6 (6.3)
26 (41.2)
1 (1.9)
Medical comorbidities
Any medical comorbidity
122 (57.6)
57 (60.0)
41 (65.1)
24 (44.4)
0.06
Overweight or obesity
157 (74.1)
76 (80.0)
53 (84.1)
28 (51.9)
<0.0001
Obesity
108 (50.9)
54 (56.8)
38 (60.3)
16 (29.6)
0.001
Type II diabetes
15 (7.1)
10 (10.5)
3 (4.8)
2 (3.7)
0.21
Hypertension
24 (11.3)
12 (12.6)
4 (6.3)
8 (14.8)
0.31
Pregnancy complications
Gestational diabetes
26 (12.3)
8 (8.4)
6 (9.5)
12 (22.2)
0.04
Smoke
0.9
Yes
19 (9.0)
9 (9.5)
2 (3.2)
8 (14.8)
0.09
Self-reported health status
0.005
Good
177 (83.5)
76 (80.0)
47 (74.6)
54 (100.0)
Fair/poor
33 (15.6)
18 (18.9)
15 (23.8)
0 (0.0)
Sleep quality
Good
114 (53.8)
60 (63.2)
28 (44.4)
26 (48.1)
0.04
Numbers not adding to in sample and percentages not leading to 100% are due to nonresponses.
English language proficiency defined as adequate versus not adequate.
Childcare: yes, defined as childcare other than parents obtained, not needed, defined as no children in need of childcare, and no, defined as childcare provided by parents.
Based on respondents only. GED = graduate equivalency degree.
