The Association between Number of Children and Weight Loss Outcomes among Individuals Undergoing Bariatric Surgery

Abstract Background Existing research demonstrates that parity is associated with risk for obesity. The majority of those who undergo bariatric surgery are women, yet little is known about whether having children prior to bariatric surgery is associated with pre- and post-surgical weight outcomes. Objectives Evaluate pre-surgical body mass index (BMI) and post-surgical weight loss among a racially diverse sample of women with and without children Setting Metropolitan hospital system Methods Women (N = 246) who underwent bariatric surgery were included in this study. Participants self-reported their number of children. Pre-surgical BMI and post-surgical weight outcomes at 1 year, including change in BMI (ΔBMI), percentage excess weight loss (%EWL) and percentage total weight loss (%TWL) were calculated from measured height and weight. Results Those with children had a lower pre-surgical BMI (p = .01) and had a smaller ΔBMI (p = .01) at 1-year post-surgery than those without children, although %EWL and %TWL at 1-year did not differ by child status or number of children. After controlling for age, race, and surgery type, the number of children a woman had was related to smaller ΔBMI at 1-year post-surgery (p = .01). Conclusions Although women with children had lower reductions in BMI than those without children, both women with and without children achieved successful post-surgical weight loss. Providers should assess for number of children and be cautious not to deter women with children from having bariatric surgery.