352Postpartum diet quality: A cross-sectional analysis from the Australian longitudinal study on women’s health

Background Reproductive-aged women are at high risk of developing obesity, and diet quality is a potential modifiable risk factor. There is limited research exploring postpartum diet quality. Methods Using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on women’s Health of women, who reported having previously given birth, we investigated the association between time since childbirth and diet quality, and differences in energy, macronutrients, micronutrient intake, and diet quality assessed by the dietary guideline index (DGI) in women stratified by time from last childbirth, early (≤6 months; n = 558) and late (7–12 months; n = 547), and others (>12 months post childbirth; n = 3434). Results From this cohort, 4539 participants completed a food frequency questionnaire and were included in this analysis. Overall, diet quality was higher in early and late postpartum women (mean DGI score 89.8±10.5 and 90.0±10.2, respectively) compared to others (>12 months post childbirth), (85.2±11.7; p < 0.001). Factors positively associated with diet quality included higher education, physical activity, health provider support, and vitamin and/or mineral supplement use. Conversely, increasing time from childbirth (>12 months), smoking compared with non-smoking and medium income level compared with no income was negatively associated with diet quality. Conclusions A lower diet quality in women >12 months post childbirth may be reflective of increased pressures, balancing childrearing and return to work responsibilities. This highlights the need to support women beyond the postpartum period to improve modifiable factors associated with weight gain, including diet quality, to optimize health and reduce chronic disease risk. Key messages Diet quality; nutrition; obesity; prevention; postpartum; reproductive; women

Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Variety over Time Is Associated with Lower 15-Year Healthcare Costs: Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health

Healthcare costs are lower for adults who consume more vegetables; however, the association between healthcare costs and fruit and vegetable varieties is unclear. Our aim was to investigate the association between (i) baseline fruit and vegetable (F&V) varieties, and (ii) changes in F&V varieties over time with 15-year healthcare costs in an Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. The data for Survey 3 (n = 8833 women, aged 50–55 years) and Survey 7 (n = 6955, aged 62–67 years) of the 1946–1951 cohort were used. The F&V variety was assessed using the Fruit and Vegetable Variety (FAVVA) index calculated from the Cancer Council of Victoria’s Dietary Questionnaire for Epidemiological Studies food frequency questionnaire. The baseline FAVVA and change in FAVVA were analysed as continuous predictors of Medicare claims/costs by using multiple regression analyses. Healthy weight women made, on average, 4.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7–6.8) fewer claims for every 10-point-higher FAVVA. Healthy weight women with higher fruit varieties incurred fewer charges; however, this was reversed for women overweight/obese. Across the sample, for every 10-point increase in FAVVA over time, women made 4.3 (95% CI 1.9–6.8) fewer claims and incurred $309.1 (95% CI $129.3–488.8) less in charges over 15 years. A higher F&V variety is associated with a small reduction in healthcare claims for healthy weight women only. An increasing F&V variety over time is associated with lower healthcare costs.

The characteristics of women aged 59-64 years who consult health care practitioners for back pain from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH).

Background: Back pain affects a substantial proportion of the adult population, and back pain sufferers tend to explore a wide range of health care options. This study investigates the use of medical and physiotherapy services by Australian women with back pain. Method: This is a sub-study of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH), designed to investigate multiple factors affecting the health and well-being of women over a 20-year period. The study focuses on 1,851 women aged 59-64 years, who had indicated that they had previously sought help from a health care practitioner for back pain. Results: Half of the women (56.5%) with back pain had consulted a general practitioner (GP), 16.2% had consulted a medical specialist, and 37.3% had consulted a physiotherapist for their back pain. Women with regular or continuous back pain were more likely to consult a GP (OR=3.98), medical specialist (OR=5.66) and a physiotherapist (OR=1.63). Conclusion: Australian women with back pain were more likely to consult a GP, medical specialist or physiotherapist if they had more regular/continuous back pain. Future research needs to investigate further the consultation and referral patterns identified in this study.