Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2013 Jul 16:13:151.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-13-151.

Safety and efficacy of a lifestyle intervention for pregnant women to prevent excessive maternal weight gain: a cluster-randomized controlled trial

Kathrin Rauh, Elisabeth Gabriel, Eva Kerschbaum, Tibor Schuster, Ruediger von Kries, Ulrike Amann-Gassner, Hans Hauner
Randomized Controlled Trial

Safety and efficacy of a lifestyle intervention for pregnant women to prevent excessive maternal weight gain: a cluster-randomized controlled trial

Kathrin Rauh et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) is associated with short- and long-term health problems among mothers and their offspring. There is a strong need for effective intervention strategies _targeting excessive GWG to prevent adverse outcomes.

Methods: We performed a cluster-randomized controlled intervention trial in eight gynecological practices evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention presented to all pregnant women; 250 healthy, pregnant women were recruited for the study. The intervention program consisted of two individually delivered counseling sessions focusing on diet, physical activity, and weight monitoring. The primary outcome was the proportion of pregnant women exceeding weight gain recommendations of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Secondary outcome variables were maternal weight retention and short-term obstetric and neonatal outcomes.

Results: The intervention resulted in a lower proportion of women exceeding IOM guidelines among women in the intervention group (38%) compared with the control group (60%) (odds ratio (OR): 0.5; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.3 to 0.9) without prompting an increase in the proportion of pregnancies with suboptimal weight gain (19% vs. 21%). Participants in the intervention group gained significantly less weight than those in the control group. Only 17% of the women in the intervention group showed substantial weight retention of more than 5 kg compared with 31% of those in the control group at month four postpartum (pp) (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.2 to 0.9). There were no significant differences in obstetric and neonatal outcomes.

Conclusions: Lifestyle counseling given to pregnant women reduced the proportion of pregnancies with excessive GWG without increasing suboptimal weight gain, and may exert favorable effects on pp weight retention.

Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00003801.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the FeLIPO trial.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization. WHO | Obesity and overweight. Fact sheet N°311 [http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/index.html]
    1. Mensink GBM, Lampert T, Bergmann E. Übergewicht und Adipositas in Deutschland 1984–2003. Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz. 2005;48:1348–1356. doi: 10.1007/s00103-005-1163-x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kurth B. Erste Ergebnisse aus der “Studie zur Gesundheit Erwachsener in Deutschland” (DEGS) Bundesgesundheitsbl. 2012;55:980–990.
    1. MRI. Nationale Verzehrs Studie II - Ergebnisbericht, Teil 1. Max Rubner-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ernährung und Lebensmittel [http://www.was-esse-ich.de/uploads/media/NVS_II_Abschlussbericht_Teil_1_...]
    1. Catalano PM, Ehrenberg HM. The short- and long-term implications of maternal obesity on the mother and her offspring. BJOG. 2006;113:1126–1133. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2006.00989.x. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data

  NODES
INTERN 4
twitter 2