The effect of a counselling intervention on weight changes during and after pregnancy: a randomised trial

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the effects of a counselling intervention on excessive weight gain during pregnancy and postpartum weight retention.Design The New Life(style) study was a randomised trial with a control group (n = 113) and an intervention group (n = 106).Setting Midwife practices in the Netherlands.Population Women with a healthy pregnancy, expecting their first baby.Methods The intervention consisted of four face-to-face counselling sessions about weight, physical activity and diet during pregnancy, and one session by telephone after delivery.Main outcome measures Weight was objectively assessed at 15, 25 and 35 weeks of gestation, and again at 8, 26 and 52 weeks postpartum. In regression models, the intervention effect on gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention was assessed.Results Women gained on average 11.3 kg (SD 3.7 kg) from early to late pregnancy. Women were 1.0 kg (SD 5.3 kg) lighter at 52 weeks postpartum compared with early pregnancy. The intervention had no effect on gestational weight gain (B = )0.05; 95% CI )1.10 to 1.00) or postpartum weight (B = 0.94; 95% CI )2.41 to 0.53) in the total study group. In a subgroup of overweight and obese women (n = 47), a favourable trend on all outcomes was observed, but none of the differences were statistically significant. ConclusionThe lifestyle counselling intervention evaluated in this study did not have an effect on excessive weight gain or postpartum weight retention. Our findings for overweight and obese women need to be confirmed in a larger, well-designed randomised trial.Keywords Gestational weight gain, lifestyle counselling, weight retention.Please cite this paper as: Althuizen E, van der Wijden CL, van Mechelen W, Seidell JC, van Poppel MNM. The effect of a counselling intervention on weight changes during and after pregnancy: a randomised trial. BJOG 2013;120:92-99.

Effect of diet and physical activity based interventions in pregnancy on gestational weight gain and pregnancy outcomes: meta-analysis of individual participant data from randomised trials

“…We identified 58 trials published up to June 2015, of which 36 studies (62%) provided individual participant data (IPD),1617343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566 that accounted for data from 80% of the participants (12 526/15 541); 22 studies (3015 women) did not provide IPD (fig 1). 67686970717273747576777879808182838485868788 A further 45 trials (9945 women)8990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122…”

“…Twenty two studies17343637383941424748515253565758596061626367 were from Europe, four each from North America,44546566 Australia,16434550 and Brazil,35495564 and one study each from Egypt40 and Iran 46. Twenty three IPD studies included women of any body mass index (BMI),3435363738424445464748525455565859606164656667 seven included only obese women,17394041506263 and six included obese and overweight women 164349515357. The interventions included those mainly based on diet (four IPD studies)47616264 or physical activity (16 IPD studies),3536374246495051525558596566…”

“…Twenty three IPD studies included women of any body mass index (BMI),3435363738424445464748525455565859606164656667 seven included only obese women,17394041506263 and six included obese and overweight women 164349515357. The interventions included those mainly based on diet (four IPD studies)47616264 or physical activity (16 IPD studies),353637424649505152555859656669 and those based on a mixed approach of diet, physical activity, or behaviour modifying techniques, or all three together (15 IPD studies) 161734394041434445485354566063. One study had a three arm design with intervention arms being physical activity only and a mixed approach 57.…”

Effectiveness of exercise interventions in the prevention of excessive gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Specifically, the study by Althuizen et al 56 showed that prenatal exercise + co-intervention (diet and behavioural intervention) did not reduce the odds of retaining >5 kg at 12 months postpartum (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.41 to 3.51). Similarly, Phelan et al reported no effect of prenatal exercise + co-intervention (diet and behavioural intervention) on the odds of returning to pre-pregnancy weight at 12 months postpartum (OR 1.6, 95% CI 0.92 to 2.7) 72.…”

El Impacto De La Educación Alimentaria Nutricional en El Embarazo: Una Revisión De Las Experiencias De Intervención.

“…Las unidades de análisis según el ámbito geográfico de procedencia muestran un predominio de investigaciones provenientes de Asia (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) seguidas por las experiencias de América del Norte (24-34), Europa (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42), América Latina (43-49) y en menor medida las procedentes de Oceanía (50-51) y África (52-53).…”