Prevalence and pregnant women's knowledge of maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain among women attending antenatal care in Fako Division, Cameroon

Introduction: obesity poses significant public health concerns, being a risk factor for most non communicable diseases and future cardiovascular diseases. Maternal obesity could be associated with adverse maternal-foetal outcomes, and there is a scarcity of data regarding obesity in pregnancy in our setting. Our objective was to determine the prevalence and knowledge of obesity and excessive Gestational Weight Gain (GWG) among pregnant women attending ANC in the Fako Division. Methods: we conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study from January 28 to May 29, 2020, in the Limbe District Hospital (LDH) and Buea Road Integrated Health Centre (BRIHC). We collected data on socio-demographic prevalence, including knowledge of obesity and excessive GWG among pregnant women. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 26. Results: out of the 317 participants included, 58.9% (n=185) were aged 20-29 years, 36% (n=116) unemployed. The mean gestational age was 28.82 +/- 7.75 weeks and 33.1% (n=105) were nulliparous. The prevalence of obesity in pregnancy and excessive GWG were 42.3% (n=134) and 41.6% (n=132) respectively. Respondents who consumed alcohol were more likely to be obese (aOR: 2.11, 95% CI 1.19-3.71; p; = 0.01). Those aged <20 (aOR: 0.064, 95% CI 0.007-0.57; p= 0.014) and 20-29 years (aOR: 0.297, 95% CI 0.16-0.56; p<0.001) were less likely to be obese than those 30-39 years. 46.1% (n=147) had poor knowledge of the complications of obesity in pregnancy, while 77.3% (n=245) had moderate knowledge of the safe and effective weight management methods during pregnancy. Late ANC booking was associated with excessive GWG (P=0.002). Conclusion: maternal obesity and excessive GWG is highly prevalent among ANC clients in the Fako Division, with excessive GWG being associated with late ANC booking. Hence, there is a need to design community-based interventions that could increase rates of early booking visits and consequently increase its benefits.