Patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior before and during pregnancy and cardiometabolic outcomes.
McKenzie K Wallace, Melissa A Jones, Kara Whitaker and 1 others
PMID 35969919WHAT IT FOUND
Pregnant women reported sitting more and moving less than before pregnancy.
Some activity and sitting patterns were linked to weight gain and early blood pressure, but blood pressure and glucose outcomes often showed no clear relationship.
Key findings
01Reported physical activity was lower in the first, second and third trimesters than recalled pre-pregnancy activity, and reported sitting time was higher in each trimester.
02Higher pre-pregnancy activity and higher or increasing late-pregnancy sitting were associated with greater third-trimester weight gain, while higher pre-pregnancy or early activity was associated with higher first-trimester systolic blood pressure; no significant associations were found for later systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure or glucose.
0333% had excessive gestational weight gain, and 14.5% had a glucose value over 140 mg/dL.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The participants were recruited by convenience sampling and were not representative of the general pregnant population. Physical activity and sedentary behavior were self-reported, and pre-pregnancy behaviour was recalled after pregnancy began. The study measured associations, not the effect of an intervention, so it cannot show that changing activity or sitting improves outcomes. Some analyses excluded participants with missing data. The sample included relatively few participants with gestational diabetes, which may have limited ability to detect glucose associations.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that higher activity before pregnancy causes more weight gain or higher blood pressure. This was an observational study, and the authors note recall bias and pre-existing health differences may explain the unexpected links.