Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health
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Assessing patterns of change in lifestyle behaviours following birth

Approved: 2018

Collaborators:

  • A/Prof Lisa Moran
  • AProf Allison Hodge
  • Arul Earnest
  • Prof Helena Teede
  • Mr Sanjeeva Ranasinha
  • Prof Jacqueline Boyle
  • Dr Briony Hill
  • Prof Helen Skouteris
  • Dr Siew Lim
  • Mrs Maureen Makama

Synopsis

Up to 1 in 2 Australian women are overweight and obese which can be worsened by excessive weight gain during pregnancy and after childbirth. Postpartum weight retention is common and fewer than 50% of women are estimated to return to their pre-pregnancy weight. Changes in diet and physical activity after childbirth can contribute to parity-related weight gain. However, it is not known if specific groups of women (eg based on factors such as age, health status, education, income, occupation and ethnicity) have particular difficulties in following healthy lifestyle behaviours, that may in turn be associated with greater parity-related weight gain.