Body image of pregnant women: association with sociodemographic, anthropometric, and obstetric variables

Juliana Fernandes Filgueiras Meireles, Clara Mockdece Neves, Pedro Henrique Berbert de Carvalho, Maria Elisa Caputo Ferreira

To compare body attitudes of pregnant women in various body mass index categories, during different gestational periods and under gestational risk conditions, as well as to analyze the association of the study variables with the body attitudes of pregnant women. We included 386 pregnant women in all gestational periods, aged 18 to 46 years (mean 29.32±6.04 years ), who attended prenatal care in the public and private sectors of a city in Southeastern Brazil, excluding women with incomplete data. The instruments for assessment were "Body Attitudes Questionnaire", "Critério de Classificação Econômica Brasil", and a sociodemographic questionnaire. In addition, anthropometric and obstetric data were collected. Descriptive, comparative, and correlational statistical analyses were performed. The body attitudes of pregnant women were similar in all pregnancy trimesters (F=0.39; p=0.9). Negative body attitudes increased gradually among low weight (108.2±12.5), appropriate weight (116.2±16.0), overweight (125.1±14.3), and obese (132.9±16.4) groups, and among pregnancy women with normal (120.0±17.1) and high-risk pregnancies (124.9±16.7). The sociodemographic, economic, and obstetric variables did not influence the variance of body attitudes. The body mass index explained 11.3% of the variance of body attitudes in pregnant women. Nutritional status and risk conditions showed an association with negative body image and should therefore be evaluated in pregnant women for a better maternal and child health.