Nutrition and exercise in overweight and obese postpartum women.

This secondary analysis of a longitudinal, nonintervention study describes the nutritional and physical activity behavior of overweight and obese postpartum women and the differences in nutrition and physical activity when participants are evaluated according to four weight categories: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. The sample consisted of 67 postpartal women [40 (60%) African American and 27 (40%) White] who gave birth vaginally to healthy term infants. No differences were present when overweight and obese women were compared with underweight and normal weight women relative to nutrition and physical activity. Nutritional imbalances were present for overweight and obese women relative to protein and fat intake. Overweight and obese postpartum women can be encouraged to lose weight using a nutritionally balanced approach by decreasing fat and protein intake, maintaining an adequate carbohydrate intake, and increasing their folacin intake.