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Are pre-pregnancy weight fluctuations and adherence to prenatal nutrition and exercise recommendations related to excessive gestational weight gain?

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Abstract

Women who have an overweight or obese pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) may be recommended to lose weight before pregnancy, however the association of preconception weight fluctuations and prenatal adherence to nutrition and exercise recommendations with gestational weight gain (GWG) have not been assessed. One hundred women with a pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2 who participated in the Nutrition and Exercise Lifestyle Intervention Program (NELIP) were included and stratified as gained weight excessively (n = 47) or not (n = 53) using the 2009 Institute of Medicine GWG guidelines. Participants completed a Weight Health History Questionnaire providing information about weight loss prior to the index pregnancy. Adherence was scored based on meeting six nutrition and exercise goals for the NELIP (/6). More women who gained excessively reported that they had actively tried to lose weight a year before the current pregnancy (61%) than women who did not gain excessively (39%; p = 0.02). Of the women attempting preconception weight loss, those who gained excessively lost more weight (6.7 ± 10.2 kg) than women who did not (2.1 ± 3.8 kg; p = 0.003). Adherence to the NELIP was lower among women who gained excessively (3.3 ± 0.8; 55%) than those who did not (4.4 ± 0.9;73%; p < 0.001). Program adherence (p < 0.001) was related to excessive GWG.

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Acknowledgements

The Nutrition and Exercise Lifestyle Intervention Program was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research—IAPH. TSN was funded by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation-Exercise and Pregnancy Laboratory, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Taniya S. Nagpal & Michelle F. Mottola

  2. School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Taniya S. Nagpal, Harry Prapavessis & Michelle F. Mottola

  3. Exercise and Health Psychology Laboratory, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Taniya S. Nagpal & Harry Prapavessis

  4. Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Christina G. Campbell

  5. Children’s Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Barbra de Vrijer & Michelle F. Mottola

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, ON, Canada

    Barbra de Vrijer

  7. School of Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Isabelle Giroux

  8. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Michelle F. Mottola

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  1. Taniya S. Nagpal
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Correspondence to Michelle F. Mottola.

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Taniya S. Nagpal, Harry Prapavessis, Christina G. Campbell, Barbra de Vrijer, Isabelle Giroux, and Michelle F. Mottola declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Nagpal, T.S., Prapavessis, H., Campbell, C.G. et al. Are pre-pregnancy weight fluctuations and adherence to prenatal nutrition and exercise recommendations related to excessive gestational weight gain?. J Behav Med 43, 1047–1055 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-020-00156-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-020-00156-z

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