Obesity-Related Dietary Behaviors among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Pregnant and Postpartum Women

Introduction. Obesity is common among reproductive age women and disproportionately impacts racial/ethnic minorities. Our objective was to assess racial/ethnic differences in obesity-related dietary behaviors among pregnant and postpartum women, to inform peripartum weight management interventions that target diverse populations. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 212 Black (44%), Hispanic (31%), and White (25%) women, aged ≥ 18, pregnant or within one year postpartum, in hospital-based clinics in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2013. Outcomes were fast food or sugar-sweetened beverage intake once or more weekly. We used logistic regression to evaluate the association between race/ethnicity and obesity-related dietary behaviors, adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Results. In adjusted analyses, Black women had 2.4 increased odds of fast food intake once or more weekly compared to White women (CI = 1.08, 5.23). There were no racial/ethnic differences in the odds of sugar-sweetened beverage intake. Discussion. Compared with White or Hispanic women, Black women had 2-fold higher odds of fast food intake once or more weekly. Black women might benefit from targeted counseling and intervention to reduce fast food intake during and after pregnancy

Paging the Clinical Informatics Community: Respond STAT to Dobbs v Jackson's Women's Health Organization

If the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was a wake-up call that clinical informatics and digital health play vital roles in our future, the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (Dobbs)[1] is a blaring alarm. Dobbs, which overturned Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, allows states to individually regulate access to abortion. This ruling has triggered the enforcement of existing state laws that ban or restrict abortion and efforts to pass similar new laws