Building Social Networks to Enhance Postpartum Weight Loss and Appropriate Infant Feeding Practices

The long-term goal of this research is to prevent obesity-related adverse health outcomes for future generations by applying information emerging from social network studies to the development of new population-based behavioral interventions. There are a number of critical periods during fetal and infant development that appear to influence the later development of obesity. Interventions that prevent insult to these critical windows from occurring could improve children's life course trajectories. This project sets the groundwork for examining whether social networks could explicitly be utilized to prevent obesity from developing by transmitting health information and health behaviors that 1) prevent postpartum weight retention in first time mothers and 2) promote appropriate infant feeding practices. The secondary aim is to assess which individual-level network-related characteristics best predict postpartum body composition and infant feeding practices.

Inclusion criteria

• Latina (self-defined, or born in Central or South America)
• Spanish-speaking and/or English-speaking,
• 18 years of age or older
• less than 24 weeks pregnant
• did or did not have a termination of a previous pregnancy before 20 weeks
• has not carried a pregnancy to term
• normal, overweight or obese (pre-pregnancy BMI >18.5 and <39)

Exclusion criteria

• non-Latina,
• non-Spanish-speaking or non-English speaking
• less than 18 years of age
• more than 24 weeks pregnant
• had a termination of a previous pregnancy after 20 weeks
• multiparous
• underweight (pre-pregnancy BMI < 18.5)
• morbidly obese (pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 39)
• currently enrolled in another program that targets weight, physical activity, or nutrition