Determining the Range for Appropriate Gestational Weight Gain Proportion for Singleton Pregnant Chinese Women

To examine the optimal proportion of gestational weight gain (GWG) for Chinese singleton women based on Chinese body mass index (BMI) categories. A retrospective cohort study with 16,977 singleton pregnant women was conducted. Among the included subjects, 2/3 of whom were randomly imported into the training set for calculating the optimal proportion of GWG ranges, and another third of the women were imported into the validation set to evaluate the GWG ranges calculated with different methods. The detection rate of adverse outcomes of pregnant women with appropriate weight gain proportion under the above three methods was evaluated by paired chi-square test, using the data of pregnant women in the validation database. According to the percentile method, the suitable proportion of GWG of pregnant women with underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obesity before pregnancy was 25.8%–37.8%, 20.3%–30.8%, 13.0%–23.1%, respectively. According to the Odds ratio method, the suitable proportion of GWG for pregnant women with different BMI categories was 24%–34%, 14%–18%, and 4%–14%, respectively. According to the combined risk curve method, the suitable proportion of GWG for pregnant women with different BMI categories was 27.9%–32.5%, 11.5%–16.8%, and −2.1%–5.5%, respectively. When the proportion of GWG ranges from 27.9%–32.5%, 11.5%–16.8%, and −2.1%–5.5% for different BMI categories, the pregnant women with appropriate weight gain proportions have the lowest detection rate of adverse maternal and infant outcomes. The GWG proportion serves as a valuable clinical indicator for enabling personalized weight management strategies and tailored nutritional guidance during pregnancy. The recommended proportion of GWG in this study for underweight, normal, overweight, and obese pregnant women was 27.9%–32.5%, 11.5%–16.8%, and −2.1%–5.5%, respectively.