Does the adherence to dietary protein recommendation from institute of medicine during pregnancy and postpartum increase body weight loss during postpartum?

Background: It is unclear whether the adherence to the protein dietary guidelines of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) during pregnancy and postpartum improves body weight after delivery. Objective: Evaluate the effects of the adherence to the IOM guideline on body weight loss during postpartum.  Design: The adherence to IOM guideline was evaluated in a prospective cohort of 430 postpartum women followed up at 0.5, 2, 6 and 9 months. IOM recommend a protein intake of 1.1 g per kg of body weight (g/kg) and 1.3 g/kg during pregnancy and postpartum, respectively. Body weight loss was modeled comparing women with protein intake greater than 1.2 g/kg (Dietetic Recommendation) with those with intake below this recommendation (no Dietetic Recommendation) both during pregnancy and postpartum using mixed effects analyses. Results: During pregnancy the mean intake of protein was 1.74 g/kg (± 0.50 g/kg) on the DR and 0.96 g/kg (± 0.17 g/kg) on the NDR. At postpartum the intake was 1.54 g/kg (± 0.32 g/kg) on the DR and 0.83 g/kg (± 0.20 g/kg) on NDR. Multivariate longitudinal regression model showed that women with DR compared to NDR lost more 108 g and 103 g of body weight per month, respectively, during pregnancy (p = 0.01) and postpartum (p = 0.03). Conclusion: HP diet during reproductive period may improve body weight loss and facilitate the maintenance of body weight during postpartum.