Body Image and Body Mass Index of Pregnant Woman Do Not Affect the Growth Indicators of Newborns. A Cross-Sectional Study

Aims: The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between the body image and body mass index (BMI) of pregnant women with newborn growth indicators in selected hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 420 pregnant women over 17 years old, who were selected by consumptive sampling method, in the hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The research questionnaire was conducted through the multidimensional questionnaire of a person's attitude towards her body image (MBSRQ). Due to the large number of sample size, Pearson's inferential test was used and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of the women was 29.52±6.04 year, mean BMI was 24.66±3.96 kg/m2, and mean score of body image was 249.86±22.27. The body image score was not significantly associated with newborn growth indicators (birthweight p=0.222, length p=0.534, head circumference p=0.537). Also, the women’s BMI was not significantly related to the newborn growth indicators (birthweight p=0.180, length p=0.577, head circumference p=0.720). The BMI was inversely related to satisfaction with different body parts (p<0.001), individual's attitude towards weight (p<0.001) and total score of women's body image (p<0.001). Conclusions: the body image in pregnancy had a significant relationship with the women's BMI. However, more comprehensive prospective studies are recommended to carefully examine the effects of pregnant women's body image on newborns growth (both term and preterm), because studies in this area are very limited.