Weight management interventions for pregnant women from minority ethnic populations living in the United Kingdom: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND

Maternal obesity disproportionately affects women from minority ethnic backgrounds in the United Kingdom, who face substantially higher risks of gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertensive disorders, and maternal mortality than White British women. Despite well-documented disparities and relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, the evidence base for culturally appropriate weight management during pregnancy remains poorly mapped.

AIM: To map and synthesize available evidence on weight management interventions during pregnancy among minority ethnic women in UK settings.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted following the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) framework and reported according to PRISMA-ScR. Seven electronic databases were searched from 2010 to 2025. Eligible studies assessed weight management interventions among pregnant minority ethnic women in the UK, or multi-ethnic UK cohorts with ethnicity-disaggregated data.

FINDINGS: Three studies were included with 1,741 participants, published between 2016 and 2025. Three domains were identified: multi-component behavioral interventions applied without cultural adaptation; differential engagement by ethnicity; and limited ethnicity-stratified reporting of effectiveness, with exploratory subgroup analyses that were underpowered and inconclusive. The reviewed studies demonstrated limited cultural adaptation and inadequate ethnicity-stratified reporting, with lower engagement among minority ethnic participants and insufficient evidence to determine whether interventions effectively reduced ethnic disparities in gestational diabetes outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Within the peer-reviewed evidence identified, interventions were delivered to multi-ethnic cohorts without documented cultural adaptation, and ethnicity-stratified reporting was too limited to permit an assessment of equity of effectiveness. These findings relate to the published literature and do not account for community-based provision not captured by this search. There is a clear need for co-designed, culturally responsive programmes evaluated in trials powered to detect ethnic differences in outcome.