One size does not fit all: Examining ethnicity in gestational weight gain guidelines

Melissa K. Melby, Goro Yamada, David A. Schwartz, Pamela J. Surkan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pregnancy-related metrics vary by race/ethnicity, yet most gestational weight gain (GWG) guidelines are ethnicity-blind. We estimated small-for-gestational age (SGA) risk in a Japanese population, examining GWG adequacy categorized by Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Japanese guidelines in male (N = 192) and female (N = 191) full-term singleton infants. For predicting SGA, IOM guidelines had high sensitivity (≥ 0.75), but low specificity (≤ 0.25); Japanese guidelines had high specificity (≥ 0.80) but low sensitivity (≤ 0.50). GWG guidelines’ implicit notions of Caucasian–Americans as optimal may lead to ‘One Size Fits All’ recommendations that can obscure important biocultural factors contributing to maternal child health outcomes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)365-385
Number of pages21
JournalHealth care for women international
Volume40
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 3 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Health Professions

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'One size does not fit all: Examining ethnicity in gestational weight gain guidelines'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this