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Exercise during pregnancy prevented weight gain, other conditions
Light to moderate exercise during pregnancy was shown to prevent weight gain in normal-weight women, and normal-weight, overweight and obese pregnant women were less likely to develop other gestational conditions such as diabetes, according to study data.
Researchers at the University of Granada, Madrid Polytechnic University and the European University conducted a randomized controlled trial to study the effects of supervised administration of light to moderate exercise on a group of 962 healthy, but otherwise sedentary, pregnant women from 2007 to 2011.
Participants were randomly assigned to a standard care group (n=481) or an intervention group (n=481) that included a 3-day a week exercise program for 50 to 55 minutes per session, with 85 sessions expected per person. Exercise activity, which included light- to moderate-intensity aerobics, resistance and flexibility, met guidelines outlined by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Maximum heart rate during exercise did not exceed 60% of participants’ maximum weight based on age, and the rate of perceived exertion based on the Borg conventional six- to 20-point scale ranged from 10 to 12. Adherence to the intervention was more than 97%.
After adjusting for maternal and gestational age, pregravid[SA1] body weight and level of education, researchers determined that women in the intervention group gained less weight than the standard care group (11.9 kg vs. 13.2 kg; 95% CI, 0.534-1.545) and were less likely to gain weight in excess of the Institute of Medicine recommendations (23.8% vs. 32%; OR=0.625; 95% CI, 0.461-0.847) compared with the participants assigned to standard care. When calculated based on BMI, women of normal weight in the intervention group gained an average of 1.393 kg (95% CI, 0.813-1.972) less than the standard care group.
Although no significant effects from treatment were shown between overweight and obese women in the standard care and intervention groups, other benefits of treatment were observed in all groups. At birth, babies born to women in the intervention group were less likely than those born to the standard care group to have macrosomia (2.1% vs. 5%; OR=0.352; 95% CI, 0.165-0.751) after adjusting for maternal age, gestational age, pregravid body weight and level of education. Additionally, incidence of gestational diabetes (3.3% vs. 6.2%; OR=0.523; 95% CI, 0.278-0.982) and hypertension (2.7% vs. 6.2%; OR=0.405; 95% CI, 0.207-0.793) were lower for the intervention group compared with the standard care group.
Macrosomia occurred among 1.4% of babies born to overweight or obese women in the intervention group compared with 9.3% of those born to overweight or obese women in the standard care group (OR=0.141; 95% CI, 0.030-0.658).
“These findings are of public health and clinical importance and provide further support for the benefits of exercise in healthy pregnant women and for promoting supervised exercise-based interventions during pregnancy,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.