2.3. Data Analysis
obesity
OBESITY
Not all participants completed each follow-up questionnaire. Therefore, cross-sectional analysis was undertaken at each postnatal time point. As these are pilot data, descriptive analysis was carried out on women’s diet, PA, and weight change data at 3-, 6-, 9- and 12-months postnatal to explore patterns. Comparison of behaviours between categories of obesity class, breastfeeding status, deprivation status, ethnicity, and dietary preference (i.e., vegetarians vs. non-vegetarians) was planned to be undertaken, but due to the small sample size and limited numbers within some sub-categories, this was not possible. The outcome data were tested for normality using the Shapiro-Wilkes test; data that were normally distributed are presented as means and standard deviations (SD), and data that are non-normally distributed as median and interquartile ranges (IQR). Diet data reported are for food types, with average daily consumption (e.g., mL/day milk consumed) and number and percent consuming the food item type (e.g., reduced fat, full fat). PA outcomes are average total energy expenditure (EE) per week and EE in each intensity category and from each PA domain. Weight change data reported are for average change at each postnatal time point from both 1st and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy, as well as a comparison for average weight change among women with excessive or non-excessive GWG.