Prevalence of obesity in adolescents with history of pregnancy and associated factors in Korea

ABSTRACT

The pregnancy was a risk factor for excessive gain for women. However, there is no information about the prevalence of obesity and its relationship with a history of pregnancy in girls. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate differences in the prevalence of obesity in adolescent females with a history of pregnancy and factors associated with it, in Korea. In 2009, 69 of 34,247 female students revealed that they had experienced pregnancy in response to the 5[th] Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey [KYRBWS-V] project by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [KCDCP]. The body mass index [BMI] and experienced pregnancy categories of the KYRBWS-V were assessed, and, for data analysis, the independent t-test, chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression were used. The risk of pregnancy was increased by approximately 47% per unit increase in age, and 331% per unit increase in depression, respectively. Conversely, the risk decreased by 19% per unit increase in BMI and 33% per unit increase [ranged from 1 very rich to 5 very poor] in the family economic state. Obesity in adolescent females is minimally affected by a history of pregnancy, if at all, despite the fact that pregnancy was risk factor for excessive weight gain in women. However, adolescent females with a history of pregnancy have higher levels of depression than do normal peers in Korea