Sobrepeso e obesidade na gestação.

Abstract

Obesity is considered a public health issue, as it has increased significantly in developed as in developing countries, becoming a worldwide epidemic that affects the population in general. In the past few years it has been observed an increased prevalence in pregnant women, which is associated with a number of pregnancy, maternal and neonatal complications. The aims of this study are to know more about the prevalence of overweight and obesity in pregnant women; to calculate the BMI, based on anthropometric data collected from the perinatal form and check the relation between overweight or obesity and maternal age, number of pregnancies, number of prenatal appointments, level of education and marital status. This is a documentary and descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, performed in a Family Health Unit in Cajazeiras-PB. The target population consisted of 201 pregnant women who received prenatal care in the previously mentioned unit from April 2009 to October 2013 and the sample of 156 pregnant women of those who met the inclusion criteria. Data collection was conducted during the month of August (2014), after hearing the mandatory opinion of the Research Ethics Committee from Santa Maria College. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and results presented in tables and charts, also the software SPSS, version 21, to correlate BMI and the proposed variables. Results showed that married pregnant women, between 20 and 35 years old, who had 9 or more years of formal education prevailed. According to anthropometric evaluation most of the women were overweigh / obese. When establishing a correlation between BMI and the variables, results showed statistical dependence between BMI and age (p = 0.038), marital status (p = 0.013) and the number of visits (p = 0.037). It can be concluded, then, that overweight and obesity in women during pregnancy need further attention face to national policies regarding women's health through effects on maternal health and fetal and perinatal complications, which makes necessary the introduction of preventive and promotional actions incorporating women as active subjects in their own healthcare.