Abstract
Objectives To assess whether a 12-week supervised exercise-programme with an additional 30 min of moderate self-imposed physical activity on the non-supervised weekdays prevents excessive weight gain in pregnancy, as well as postpartum weight retention.
Methods One hundred and five sedentary, nulliparous pregnant women with a mean age of 30.7 ± 4.0 years and a pre-pregnancy body mass index of 23.8 ± 4.3 kg/m2 were randomised to either an exercise group (EG, n = 52) or a control group (CG, n = 53). The exercise programme consisted of 60 min supervised aerobic dance and strength training for 60 min, at least twice per week for a minimum of 12 weeks.
Results Drop-out rates were 19% and 21% in the EG and CG, respectively. Fewer women in the EG than in the CG exceeded the Institute of Medicine recommendations; however, only EG participants who attended 24 exercise sessions (n = 14) differed significantly from controls (p = 0.006) with regard to weight gain during pregnancy (11.0 ± 2.3 vs. 13.8 ± 3.8 kg, p < 0.01) and postpartum weight retention (0.8 ± 1.7 vs. 3.3 ± 4.1 kg, p < 0.01).
Conclusions Regular participation in aerobic dance exercise can contribute to significantly reduce weight gain during pregnancy.
Acknowledgements
We thank Professor Ingar Holme for assistance with the statistical analysis, and Dr Helena Frawley for linguistic revision of the manuscript.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and the writing of the paper.