摘要：In the last 20 years obesity has emerged as one of the top causes of preventable deaths worldwide and is a health problem for adult women globally; according to WHO, in 2014, 40% were overweight and 15% obese.[1]
Pregnancy brings risk for excessive weight gain and can result in short-, medium- or long-term postpartum weight retention. In some women, the result is obesity. Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is a powerful risk factor for new and persistent obesity. What’s more, women who have given birth once or twice are three to four times more likely to become obese in the five years following childbirth than women who have had no children during the same period.[2]
The first gestational weight-gain standards were issued globally and in Cuba in 1990. They were designed to prevent premature births and low birthweight in newborns. Nevertheless, rising rates of obesity and overweight in early pregnancy continued, spurring a reorientation toward a more comprehensive approach designed to protect overall maternal health, promote maintenance of prepregnancy weight, and prevent childhood obesity, making weight monitoring in pregnancy even more important.[3] To this end, Cuba began applying national nutritional assessment standards for pregnant women in 2010, based on guidelines issued by the US National Institutes of Health.
