Leisure-time physical activity in Amazonian pregnant women and offspring birth weight: A prospective cohort study.

Compelling evidence supports the current international recommendation of at least 150 min/week of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) during pregnancy. However, the potential relationship between LTPA and birth weight (BW) remains unclear in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between LTPA during pregnancy and offspring BW in an Amazonian population. Prospective cohort study was carried-out with 500 pregnant women and their offspring followed-up in the MINA-Brazil study, which was conducted in Cruzeiro do Sul, Western Brazilian Amazon. LTPA was assessed in the second (mean 19.6, SD 2.4 weeks) and third (mean 27.8, SD 1.6 weeks) gestational trimesters by a standardised interview and categorised according to the recommended cut-off of at least 150 min/week. We calculated offspring BW z-scores by sex and gestational age. We then explored the effect of LTPA during pregnancy on offspring BW, the association between LTPA and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) or large-for-gestational-age (LGA) births, and the mediating role of excessive and insufficient gestational weight gain (GWG). At least 150 min/week of LTPA during the third gestational trimester was associated with an offspring BW decrease of -0.35 z-score (95% CI: -0.65, -0.05) or -147.9 grams (95% CI: -260.9, -14.8), without increasing the frequency of SGA foetuses either in the second or third gestational trimester (p > 0.05). Excessive GWG mediated the effect of LTPA on the offspring BW (indirect effect = -0.05 z-score [95% CI: -0.10, -0.00] or -34.7 grams (95% CI: -66.1, -3.3]). This mediation effect was not observed for insufficient GWG. LTPA in the third, but not in the second, trimester of pregnancy was inversely associated with offspring BW without increasing the frequency of SGA, an effect that was partly mediated by excessive GWG.

Preditores economicos e socioculturais para sobrepeso de mulheres brasileiras em áreas rurais e urbanas / Economic and cultural-educational predictors of overweight in urban and rural brazilian women

Casuística: amostra aleatória da populaçäo feminina (20-49 anos), com pelo menos um filho menor de cinco anos (2.439 mulheres, 1.907 de áreas urbanas e 532 de áreas rurais). Objetivo: avaliar o efeito independente de variáveis economicas e educacionais-culturais sobre o risco de sobrepeso. Métodos: a variávais explanatórias consideradas foram o número de bens no domicílio e categoria de ocupaçäo (preditores economicos) e anos de escolaridade e hábito de ler jornais e de ver programas informativoa-educativos na TV (educacionais-culturais). As variáveis-controle: idade, paridade e raça. Resultados: prevalências em torno de 35 porcento de sobrepeso foram encontradas nos dois meios. No meio rural, quanto maior o número de bens, maior o risco de sobrepeso. Para as mulheres urbanas (cerca de 80 porcento da populaçäo feminina do país), a proteçäo contra a obesidade näo advém mais da pobreza, mas da educaçäo e acesso a informaçöes.(au)

Breast-feeding patterns and socioeconomic status in the city of São Paulo / Padrões de amamentação e estado socioeconômico na cidade de São Paulo

Current for the value of human milk and of the advantages of breast feeding have been widely documented in the scientific literature

The recent revival of breast-feeding in the city of São Paulo, Brazil / A recente revivifação da amamentação na cidade de São Paulo, Brazil

A ramdom sampling of children under age five in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1984/85, disclosed the mediam duration of breast-feeding to be 3,5 months and the duration of exclusive breast-feeding 2.0 months...