Do Physical Activity Patterns Across the Lifecourse Impact Birth Outcomes?

Abstract

The significant impact of physical activity during, or immediately prior to pregnancy on a range of pregnancy and birth outcomes has been established. However, lifecourse theory posits that the antecedents of poor outcomes occur across a larger trajectory of time. The objective of this study was to examine whether physical activity patterns over the lifecourse impact birth outcomes. The sample (n = 1,713) was derived from Waves I, III, and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and limited to women who had their first, singleton live birth between Waves III and IV; respondents who had missing data were excluded. Outcome variables included preterm birth (<37 weeks) and low birth weight (<5.5 pounds). Physical activity was categorized as follows: long-term physically active (active at Waves I and III); short-term physically active (active at only Wave I or III); and not physically active (not active at Waves I and III). Survey-weighted logistic regression controlled for socio-demographic and established predictors of poor birth outcomes. Women categorized as long-term physically active had lower rates of preterm births (12.2 vs. 18.7 %) and low birth weight (9.1 vs. 11.1 %) compared to women categorized as not physically active. However, when controlling for covariates, adjusted analysis revealed that physical activity consistency only predicted preterm birth (aOR = 0.55, 95 % CI = 0.33-0.91). Findings suggest that physical activity patterns across the lifecourse may decrease risk of preterm birth. Implications include efforts supporting patterns of physical activity over longer periods of time prior to pregnancy.

Trajectories of maternal leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behavior during adolescence to young adulthood and offspring birthweight

“…However, we did not identify a pattern of consistently high LTPA, as reported previously (16, 32). We also identified an additional LTSB trajectory with consistently moderate LTSB.…”

“…A previous study of patterns of maternal preconception LTPA and pregnancy outcomes using Add Health data by Vamos et al found that maintaining high LTPA (≥5 times per week, based on meeting physical activity recommendations through 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days per week) in adolescence and adulthood was not associated with low birthweight (OR=0.79; 95% CI: 0.45, 1.39) (16). Vamos et al identified patterns of LTPA a priori, which may not capture observed patterns in the data.…”

“…However, most previous research on determinants of healthy pregnancy has focused on behaviors during pregnancy or the short time period before the pregnancy. To our knowledge, the only previous study of patterns of maternal LTPA during adolescence and adulthood reported associations of long-term preconception LTPA with reduced risk of preterm birth but not low birthweight (16). This study did not consider macrosomia or preconception LTSB.…”

Physical activity and the risk of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of epidemiological studies

“…However, even among the studies that reported inverse associations there was considerable variability in the strength of the associations reported, with some studies reporting a 15-20% reduction in risk with high physical activity, 35,36,38,42 while other studies reported up to a 40-80% reduction in risk. 19,[32][33][34]41,46,55,56,59 It is possible that differences in the timing, amount, type and intensity of physical activity or different degrees of adjustments for confounders or other study characteristics could explain some of this variation in the results. To clarify whether physical activity before or during pregnancy is associated with the risk of preterm birth, we conducted a systematic review and metaanalysis of epidemiological studies on the subject.…”

Influencia del ejercicio físico durante el embarazo sobre el peso del recién nacido: un ensayo clínico aleatorizado.

“…2014 y Vamos y cols. (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32). En todos ellos se asegura que el ejercicio físico de intensidad moderada, y efectuado bajo supervisión, desde el primer trimestre y hasta el final del embarazo no afecta al flujo sanguíneo fetoplacentario, y no existen riesgos de parto prematuro ni evidencia científica de daño como resultado de dicha actividad física.…”