Antenatal dietary interventions in obese pregnant women to restrict gestational weight gain to Institute of Medicine recommendations: a meta-analysis.

Abstract

To estimate whether antenatal dietary interventions restrict maternal weight gain in obese pregnant women without compromising newborn birth weight. PubMed and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register were searched using free-text search terms: pregnancy, obesity, overweight, dietary intervention, lifestyle, and randomis(z)ed controlled trial through March 2011 in a similar search strategy to that used in a previous systematic review. We included randomized controlled trials in which antenatal dietary intervention was provided to pregnant women who were overweight or obese at booking. We extracted 263 abstracts or reports, from which 39 full-text articles were reviewed. Four randomized controlled trials were identified involving 537 women. The results suggested that there was a significant pool treatment effect (z=11.58, P<.001), because antenatal dietary intervention programs were effective in reducing the total gestational weight gain by 6.5 kg. Despite this, antenatal dietary interventions did not alter newborn birth weight (z=0.18, P=.859). Antenatal dietary interventions in obese pregnant women can reduce maternal weight gain in pregnancy without an effect on newborn birth weight.