Table 1.

Distribution of maternal characteristics by ideal body size preference in the pregnancy, infection, and nutrition study

Maternal characteristics	Meane (±SDf)	% of the Study Population	% Light body size preference	% Average body size preference	% Heavy body size preference	P >chi2g
Age	29.1 ± 5.7
≤18		3.4	2.5	4.7	0.6	.032
19–24		18.7	15.5	21.7	30.8
25–29		28.2	29.0	27.3	25.6
30–34		33.5	36.3	30.6	25.6
≥35		16.2	16.6	15.7	15.4
BMI	25.8 ± 6.9
Underweight		14.2	20.1	8.0		.001
Normal		50.3	59.0	43.0	5.1
Overweight		11.5	10.8	12.8	5.1
Obese		24.0	10.1	36.2	89.7
Racea
Caucasian		72.5	82.0	62.9	46.2	.001
African American		19.3	10.8	28.2	41.0
Education (years completed)	15.5 ± 2.9
<12		6.9	4.9	8.1	23.1	.001
12 to <16		33.6	25.6	42.3	51.3
16+		59.4	69.5	49.6	25.6
Marital status
Married		75.1	81.8	69.3	43.6	.001
Not marriedb		24.8	18.2	30.7	56.4
Percent of 2001 poverty line	410.8 ± 226
<185%		19.0	16.9	23.9	38.9	.001
185–350%		18.8	16.6	25.0	22.2
≥350%		54.7	66.6	51.2	38.9
Parityc
Nulliparous		46.8	47.7	45.8	43.6	.750
1 or more		53.2	52.3	54.2	56.4
Smokingd
No		79.5	91.7	87.9	75.8	.004
Yes		9.2	8.3	12.1	24.2
Dieted prepregnancy
No		46.4	46.7	51.2	43.2	.270
Yes		49.2	53.3	48.9	56.8
Pre-eclampsia
No		95.1	97.7	93.2	76.9
Yes		5.0	2.4	6.8	23.1	.001

^a97 women self-reported as “Other”

^bIncludes single, divorced, separated, or widowed

^cIncludes live births and still births

^dMaternal smoking in months 1–6

^eMean and standard deviation are from originally continuous variables (age, prepregnancy BMI, education, and poverty were later categorized)

^fSD = Standard Deviation

^gPearson chi-squared test