European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

MATERNAL ANTHROPOMETRY DURING PREGNANCY AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH MATERNAL AND NEONATAL HEALTH OUTCOMES: AN EXPANDED FOCUSED LITERATURE REVIEW

*Prasanta Deb M.Sc. PhD

ABSTRACT

Maternal anthropometry is an important component of nutritional and risk assessment during pregnancy. Maternal height, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), gestational weight gain (GWG), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and other measures of adiposity provide relatively inexpensive indicators that can be incorporated into antenatal and community health services. Evidence indicates that both inadequate and excessive maternal nutritional status are associated with adverse maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes. Low pre-pregnancy BMI is particularly associated with small-for-gestational-age birth, low birth weight, and preterm birth, whereas overweight and obesity are associated with gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertensive disorders, caesarean delivery, large-for-gestational-age birth, and macrosomia. GWG provides longitudinal information beyond baseline BMI; inadequate gain is associated with adverse fetal growth and preterm birth, whereas excessive gain is associated with excessive fetal growth and several maternal complications. MUAC is a practical additional measure where reliable pre-pregnancy weight is unavailable, although population-specific thresholds require validation. Evidence from South Asian populations also indicates that BMI and body-fat distribution may not have identical risk relationships to those observed in European populations. This focused review synthesizes evidence on maternal height, BMI, GWG, MUAC, adiposity, fetal growth, and neonatal outcomes, with particular attention to India and South Asia. Maternal anthropometric indicators should be interpreted as complementary measures and integrated with dietary, metabolic, clinical, fetal-growth, and neonatal assessment. Further prospective studies in India, including under-represented populations of northeastern India, are required to establish locally appropriate anthropometric reference values and clinically useful thresholds.

Keywords: Maternal anthropometry; pregnancy; body mass index; gestational weight gain; mid-upper arm circumference; maternal adiposity; fetal growth; birth weight; South Asia.