Methods: Pregnant women (N = 45) recruited prior to 20 weeks gestation from physician practices identified their race/ethnicity as: 4 African American, 6 Caribbean Black, 17 Caribbean Hispanic, 9 Central American Hispanic, 9 White non-Hispanic. Mean age was 29.1 years (SD = 6.87). Most were high school graduates (98%), partnered (66.7%), and employed (78%). Women in the 5 racial/ethnic groups did not differ in age, education, income, marital status, employment, number of pregnancies. Women completed Body Image Assessment – Obesity for their real prepregnant, ideal & realistic body sizes; Pregnancy Weight Gain Attitudes Scale (PWGAS); Multi-group Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM).

Results: Perceived prepregnancy body size was similar among African American, Black Caribbean and Hispanic Caribbean women, but significantly higher than for Hispanic Central American and White Non-Hispanic women (oneway ANOVA). White Non-Hispanic women reported a smaller ideal body size than women in the other 4 groups. Discrepancies between ideal and realistic body size were considerably greater for African American, Caribbean Black, and Caribbean Hispanic women than for Central American Hispanic and White non-Hispanic women. African American women perceived lower risk to themselves and their infants if they were overweight prepregnancy or gained too much weight during pregnancy. Perceived risk of lower weight (underweight prepregnancy or gained too little weight during pregnancy) was similar across groups. Women in these 5 racial/ethnic subgroups reported different encouraged and restricted foods during pregnancy: for Black Caribbeans milk, vegetables, fruit, green plantains, fish, goat, chicken and yams were encouraged with conch restricted, while for Caribbean Hispanics malt, malanga, vegetables, fruits, beans, fish and poultry were encouraged; spicy foods and shell fish restricted.

Conclusions: Data suggest important differences in pregnant women's perceptions, food, and behavior across racial/ethnic subgroups.