Body Mass Index (BMI) in women booking for antenatal care: Comparison between selfreported and digital measurements

Fattah, Chro; Farah, Nadine; O’Toole, Fiona; Barry, Sinead; Stuart, Bernard; Turner, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2009.01.015

« Previous Next »European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
Volume 144, Issue 1 , Pages 32-34, May 2009

Body Mass Index (BMI) in women booking for antenatal care: Comparison between selfreported and digital measurements

UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science, Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland

Received 16 October 2008; received in revised form 15 December 2008; accepted 31 January 2009. published online 24 February 2009.

Abstract

Objective

We set out to compare measurement of Body Mass Index (BMI) with selfreporting in women early in pregnancy.

Study design

We studied 100 women booking for antenatal care in the first trimester with a normal ongoing pregnancy. Selfreported maternal weight and height were recorded and the Body Mass Index was calculated. Afterwards maternal weight and height were digitally measured and actual BMI was calculated.

Results

If selfreporting is used for BMI classification, we found that 22% of women were classified incorrectly when BMI was measured. 12% of the women who were classified as having a normal selfreported BMI were overweight and 5% classified as overweight were obese. Similar findings have been reported outside pregnancy.

Conclusions

These findings have implications for clinical practice, and for research studies exploring the relationship between maternal adiposity and pregnancy complications.

Keywords: Maternal obesity, Body Mass Index (BMI)