Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, California.
California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, San Francisco, California.
Womens Health Issues. 2014 May-Jun;24(3):e305-11. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2014.02.004.
Prepregnancy body mass index and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) are associated with adverse maternal and infant outcomes. Because stress contributes to obesity and eating behaviors, stress reduction interventions during pregnancy may be a novel way to influence GWG, positively affect maternal and infant outcomes, and address the obesity epidemic intergenerationally.
Our research team is developing a mindfulness-based stress reduction and nutrition intervention for low-income, overweight and obese pregnant women, with healthy GWG as the primary outcome measure. To inform development of the intervention, we conducted focus groups with our target population. Focus group transcripts were analyzed for themes related to sources and importance of stress, relationship between stress and eating, and motivation for a stress reduction pregnancy intervention.
Fifty-nine low-income pregnant women from the San Francisco Bay Area participated in focus groups and completed a questionnaire. The vast majority of women (80%) reported experiencing significant stress from a variety of sources and most recognized a relationship between stress and eating in their lives.
This at-risk population seems to be extremely interested in a stress reduction intervention to support healthy GWG during pregnancy. The women in our groups described high levels of stress and a desire for programs beyond basic dietary recommendations. These findings inform practitioners and policymakers interested in pregnancy as a "window of opportunity" for behavior change that can affect the metabolic and weight trajectory both for women and their offspring.
孕前体重指数和妊娠体重过度增加与母婴不良结局有关。由于压力会导致肥胖和饮食行为，因此在怀孕期间进行减压干预可能是一种影响妊娠体重过度增加、对母婴结局产生积极影响、并解决肥胖代际问题的新方法。
我们的研究团队正在为低收入、超重和肥胖的孕妇开发一种基于正念的减压和营养干预措施，以健康的妊娠体重增加为主要衡量指标。为了为干预措施的制定提供信息，我们对目标人群进行了焦点小组讨论。对焦点小组的转录内容进行了主题分析，这些主题涉及压力的来源和重要性、压力与饮食之间的关系，以及对减压妊娠干预的动机。
来自旧金山湾区的 59 名低收入孕妇参加了焦点小组讨论并完成了一份问卷。绝大多数女性（80%）报告说她们经历了各种来源的巨大压力，大多数人在生活中认识到压力与饮食之间存在关系。
这个高危人群似乎对支持怀孕期间健康妊娠体重增加的减压干预措施非常感兴趣。我们小组中的女性描述了高水平的压力和对基本饮食建议以外的项目的需求。这些发现为对怀孕作为行为改变的“机会之窗”感兴趣的从业者和决策者提供了信息，这种行为改变可以影响女性及其后代的代谢和体重轨迹。
