engleski

Does maternal physical activity during pregnancy affect newborns´ anthropometry? The preliminary results from the CRIBS study.

Introduction: Physical activity during pregnancy brings benefits like increased cardiorespiratory fitness, reduced risk of excessive gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth, etc. The ongoing CRoatian Islands Birth Cohort Study (CRIBS) is the first cohort study in the South- Eastern Europe. The aim of the project is to assess the prevalence of risk factors (biological, environmental and behavioral) for the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) in populations from Dalmatian islands Hvar and Brač and coastal Split city with surroundings, the Mediterranean area with very high prevalence of the MetS. Material and methods: So far, over 350 pregnant women and 220 of their newborns have been involved. Here we present the preliminary results of testing the association of mothers` selfestimated physical activity during pregnancy with newborns` anthropometric characteristics (birth weight, length and head circumference) using data from questionnaires and obstetric records of 116 mother – newborn pairs. Results: The difference in weight-at- birth was detected between newborn girls whose mothers were from Low vs. Intensive physical activity categories, as well as from Moderate vs. Intensive physical activity categories. In addition to that, the significant difference in weight-at- birth andheight/length-at-birth was detected between newborn boys whose mothers were from Moderate vs. Intensive physical activity categories (p<0.01). No association between self-estimated level of physical activity and mothers’ BMI was found. Conclusion: For women with normal pregnancies, light occupational activities do not cause problems with the fetal growth rate, but the same was not reported for women who maintained high-intensity activities.

birth cohort, mother, physical activity.

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