Table 3.

Barriers to healthy behaviors among pregnant youth

Theme 2: Barriers to healthy behaviors among pregnant youth
Total number of participants responding to text message surveys: 51 women Total number of interviewed participants: 44 women
Sub-theme	Demographics	Gestational age	Weight data	Quote	Source
Stress	22 yo, black / non-Hispanic, high school graduate	26 weeks	BMI 24.1, +52lbs, over	“Having a 3 year old and worried about not working and paying bills”	T
	21 yo, Native American / non-Hispanic, some college	38 weeks	BMI 26.3, +16lbs, within	“Well me not talking to the child’s father, and him not being in the picture. You know, me living on my own. At first I didn’t have stable housing, transportation, things like that.”	I
	20 yo, mixed / non-Hispanic, high school graduate	33 weeks	BMI 20.1, +26lbs, within	“So I lost my job and, um, then I was really depressed about that because I’m always, you know, very active and loved that job.”	I
	22 yo, black / non-Hispanic, some high school	37 weeks	BMI 21.0, +73lbs, over	“I really don’t decide right now because, um, I’m staying at a family shelter, and so they kind of feed us.”	I
Inconvenience	22 yo, white / non-Hispanic, some high school	31 weeks	BMI 19. 3, +35lbs, within	“Transportation usually was [a barrier to exercise], cause I don’t drive. So I can’t just go to the gym whenever I want.”	I
	22 yo, white / non-Hispanic, high school graduate	28 weeks	BMI 24.5, +47lbs, over	“Convenience like is one thing, and money.”	I
	18 yo, white / non-Hispanic, some high school	32 weeks	BMI 18.6, +27lbs, within	“It’s not really a big choice for me. I just go look in the fridge and I’m just like, you know, and I would pick pizza over vegetables I guess.”	I
	24 yo, white / non-Hispanic, high school graduate	33 weeks	BMI 19.7, +22lbs, under	“You know it depends if it’s in the house or say if we buy something before work or at work you know.”	I
Don’t shop or cook	19 yo, white / non-Hispanic, some college	32 weeks	BMI 32.2, +19lbs, within	“I just moved in with my husband and his family. It’s kind of hard. Only because like they just keep, like carbs…carbs…carbs. Heavy eating. Where like my mom and my brother were like…so like for example, like at my house, I open the fridge expecting to make like 500 different kind of salads. Where like I open the fridge at my mother-in-law’s house, and it’s like woah. There’s no lettuce. There’s no…like there’s nothing like…they don’t really eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.”	I
	19 yo, white / non-Hispanic, some college	32 weeks	BMI 32.2, +19lbs, within	“We eat out a lot for now just because of the situation we’re in, you know. She doesn’t really cook much at home, and she doesn’t really go shopping that much either. So it’s kinda hard to eat at home.”	I
	24 yo, black / non-Hispanic, some college	33 weeks	BMI 33.8, +20lbs, within	“I cook every now and then when I have the energy. But for the most part, I probably would stop and get something.”	I
Busy	24 yo, white / non-Hispanic, high school graduate	27 weeks	BMI 19.7, +22lbs, under	“I work all the time, so I don’t really have time to exercise”	T
	19 yo, black / non-Hispanic, high school graduate	25 weeks	BMI 22.2, +45lbs, over	“No I have not been working out. I work a job 8 hours a day 5 days a week. I chill on my off days, I feel like that is enough.”	T
	22 yo, white / non-Hispanic, high school graduate	26 weeks	BMI 24.5, +47lbs, over	“Being to busy with house work and school work is keeping me from doing it [exercise]”	T
	23 yo, black / non-Hispanic, vocational training	32 weeks	BMI 22.3, +37lbs, over	“It is more on my body I would say because I work and I have the other two kids so I’m doing a lot.”	I
Tired	17 yo, black / non-Hispanic, some high school	24 weeks	BMI 25.6, +17lbs, within	“I have not been exercising. I haven’t been having the energy to exercise. I’ve been extremely tired throughout my pregnancy and haven’t gained any weight so I don’t feel I need to”	T
	22 yo, mixed / Hispanic, vocational training	35 weeks	BMI 29.4, +13lbs, under	“I don’t know, like, with my first child, I was very active. I wasn’t, like, so drained, and I didn’t feel so exhausted. But with this child, it’s like I feel so heavy, and I’m so exhausted.”	I
	23 yo, black / non-Hispanic, some college	Postpartum	BMI 45.5, −8lbs, under	“I was not trying to cook anything really, um, and it wasn’t because I was too busy, it was ‘cause I was too tired and too fat… I’m like, I’m not doing nothin’, I just wanna relax and be lazy.”	I
Poor Motivation	22 yo, black / non-Hispanic, some college	27 weeks	BMI 41.9, +15lbs, within	“Cutting out candy, and nothing I just love candy”	T
	23 yo, black / non-Hispanic, vocational training	27 weeks	BMI 29.8, +42lbs, over	“I could exercise more but I’m just being lazy”	T
	23 yo, black / non-Hispanic, vocational training	34 weeks	BMI 29.8, +42lbs, over	“I’m like I don’t have to eat vegetables. I don’t like carrots. You can’t stuff the vegetables down my throat. If I don’t like it and you want to eat more, I want to eat what I want to eat to a certain extent.”	I
	19 yo, white / non-Hispanic, some college	32 weeks	BMI 32.2, +19lbs, within	“It’s just my laziness basically.”	I
	23 yo, black / non-Hispanic, vocational training	32 weeks	BMI 22.3, +37lbs, over	“Oh, well, at the end of the day I could eat healthy, I just choose not to. It’s really up to you on what you eat, so.”	I
	18 yo, white / non-Hispanic, some college	33 weeks	BMI 31.2, −8lbs, under	“At least I tried to anyway in the beginning, and then I just gave up, I Was like, forget this, if it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen.”	I
	23 yo, black / non-Hispanic, vocational training	34 weeks	BMI 29.8, +42lbs, over	“If I’m in a grocery store and I see something like…like for instance, the peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, whatever, and I see that versus me seeing like chips and French onion dip, then I’m going to go for that.”	I
	17 yo, other / Hispanic, unknown	33 weeks	BMI 36.1, −3lbs, under	“Well, he thought I didn’t know how to cook, and I’m like I didn’t forget, just lazy”	I

+ / − = positive / negative weight gain during pregnancy

T = Text response

I = Interview response

Demographics header = Age (years), race / ethnicity, highest education level obtained

Weight data header = Pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), weight gain during pregnancy, National Academy of Medicine (NAM) classification of weight gain at the end of pregnancy