Pregnant women's third trimester exercise behaviors, body mass index, and pregnancy outcomes

Abstract

Pregnancy and postpartum are determinants of sedentary and low active lifestyles. Before effective physical activity interventions are implemented within this population, it is necessary to prospectively examine, during each trimester, their exercise determinants and behaviors within a theoretical framework. The purposes of this study were to: (a) prospectively examine women's third trimester exercise intention and behavior using the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and (b) examine group differences across the TPB constructs, body mass index (BMI), and birth outcomes for women exercising and not exercising during their third trimester. Participants were 62 pregnant women who completed self-report measures during their third trimester and 6-weeks postpartum. We found that: (a) intention predicted exercise behavior; (b) subjective norm predicted exercise intention; and (c) women exercising during their third trimester had significantly lower postpartum BMI and significantly heavier and longer babies than women not exercising during their third trimester. Our findings support the TPB for understanding women's exercise intention and behavior during their third trimester of pregnancy.

Physical Activity Volumes during Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies Assessing the Association with Infant's Birth Weight

“… 29 30 31 32 Overall, the studies were of moderate (28 studies, 51.9%) 29 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 or good (21 studies, 38.9%) 30 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 methodological quality, while 5 studies (9.2%) were classified as of poor methodological quality. 78 79 80 81 82 Most studies were conducted in a community setting (59.3%) and included low-risk, predominantly Caucasian women. Characteristics of the studies are summarized in Table 1 , while detailed descriptions of exposures and outcomes of individual studies can be found in Table 2 .…”

“… 75 Most studies defined birth weight outcomes as prespecified in the protocol, with a few exceptions using close definitions. 38 49 51 53 55 61 65 72 73 79 81…”

The Willingness to Intervene Against Suicide Questionnaire

“…TPB is most often used in the context of health behaviors such as smoking (Burkhalter, Warren, Shuk, Primavera, & Ostroff, 2009), exercising (Downs & Hausenblas, 2007), and consuming alcohol (Zimmermann & Sieverding, 2010). It has also been used to examine self-harm and suicide with promising results.…”

Modeling the Impact of Prepregnancy BMI, Physical Activity, and Energy Intake on Gestational Weight Gain, Infant Birth Weight, and Postpartum Weight Retention

“…16,[24][25][26] However it should be noted that these women did not deliver "low birth weight" infants. Low birth weight is considered to be infants who weigh less than 2500 g at birth; 6 infants in these studies had healthy birth weights ranging from 2700-4000 g. 1 Lastly, although physical activity during pregnancy may aid in controlling excessive postpartum weight retention, 27 intervention trials with aims of promoting physical activity and appropriate energy intakes to reduce postpartum weight retention have proven both successful 28 and unsuccessful. 29 Energy intakes during pregnancy impact gestational weight gain and infant birth weight.…”