Physical activity and glucose tolerance in overweight and obese pregnant women

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the association between self-reported physical activity levels and glucose tolerance among overweight and obese pregnant women. Methods: 55 overweight or obese pregnant women (mean age ± SD; 31.6 ± 3.8 years), who had been included in the ongoing Exercise Training in Pregnancy (ETIP) study, were recruited for this sub study. 49% of the study’s participants were nulliparous while 96% were obese (BMI≥30). Selfreported physical activity in early gestation (range 12-14 weeks) and late gestation (range 34-37 weeks) was assessed using standardized questionnaires. Oral glucose tolerance test was also assessed at these periods to determine 2-hour plasma glucose in both early and late pregnancy. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was use to assess the association. A general linear regression (forward model) was carried out to assess the strength of the association. Fisher’s exact test was used to determine difference in the prevalence of GDM across physical activity levels. Results: We found moderate to no correlation between self-reported physical activity levels and 2-hour plasma glucose in late pregnancy. However, correlation was moderate to low, with 2-hour plasma glucose in early pregnancy (ρ =0.468; 0.01