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Clinical Trial
. 2012 May 8:11:11.
doi: 10.1186/1477-5751-11-11.

Lifestyle counseling during pregnancy and offspring weight development until four years of age: follow-up study of a controlled trial

Taina Mustila  1 , Jani Raitanen, Päivi Keskinen, Antti Saari, Riitta Luoto
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Lifestyle counseling during pregnancy and offspring weight development until four years of age: follow-up study of a controlled trial

Taina Mustila et al. J Negat Results Biomed. .

Abstract

Background: Fetal conditions are known to be partly responsible for the child's risk for obesity. Our pilot study aimed to determine the effect of gestational lifestyle counseling on the offspring weight gain until 4 years of age and to estimate power for future studies.

Design and methods: First-time pregnant mothers participated in a controlled trial conducted in maternity health clinics during 2004 - 2006. The intervention included individual counseling on physical activity and diet, and an option to attend supervised group exercise sessions. The participant mothers (N = 109) received a follow-up questionnaire concerning 13 repeated growth measurements of their offspring. Response rate to the follow-up questionnaire was 66.1% (N = 72/109).

Results: The increase of BMI z-score between 24-48 months was not significantly slower among the intervention group offspring (95% CI -0.025 to 0.009, p = 0.34) compared to control group. Z-scores for weight-for-length/height did not differ between groups when the period 0-48 months was analyzed (95% CI -0.010 to 0.014, p = 0.75).

Conclusions: In this pilot study gestational lifestyle counseling did not significantly slow the weight gain of the offspring. Gestational intervention studies with at least 300 mothers per group are needed to confirm the possible effect on offspring's risk for obesity.

Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN21512277.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Original sample and the follow-up of the offspring, respondents and non-respondents.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Growth trajectories by gender; exact age of the child and weight 0–48 months.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of intervention on offspring weight development. Weight-for-length/height from birth to 48 months (upper) and BMI z-scores from 24–48 months (lower). P-values denote for the significance of intervention effects (interaction between group and child’s age at months). Non-linear model including group, age of the child, non-linear terms age2 and/or age3 and interaction between group and age of the child.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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