Correlative Studies on Anthropometric Indexes for Identifying Obesity in Pregnancy

Abstract

Currently, Obesity in pregnancy is a major health problem across the globe. In the past 20 years, prevalence of Obesity in pregnancy has doubled, leading to a wide range of complications in pregnancy. To foretell and manage this condition, clinicians and other health practitioners adopts the body mass index (BMI-obtained by dividing weight (kg) with height (m2)) approach in diagnosing obesity in pregnancy. This study correlates, apart from BMI, other indices for which obesity could be identified in pregnancy. To achieve this, a total of 578 pregnant women at different ages and trimesters were ethically sourced from selected antenatal/ maternal homes in Enugu State of Nigeria. Using ANOVA, and the Pearson product Moment correlation coefficients, Statistical measure of association (correlation) were conducted after obtaining their mid upper arm (MUA), Calf (C), waist (W), and Waist/hip Circumferences respectively. Obtained results showed a positive correlation with aforementioned parameters of weight and height, which contrarily suggests that BMI, not MUA, C, W, or Waist/hip Circumferences increased in the same proportion as mean weight, which actually depends also on foetal weight in pregnancy.