Lifestyle Intervention to Limit Excessive Weight Gain During Pregnancy in Minority Women

Summary

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing among pregnant women in the United States. More than one-third of women of reproductive age in the US are overweight or obese, and two thirds of women gain more weight in pregnancy than is recommended by the Institute of Medicine guidelines. Maternal obesity during pregnancy increases the risk of complications to both mother and child. Minority women (Blacks and Hispanics) have higher rates of overweight and obesity when they become pregnant, experience higher rates of excessive weight gain during pregnancy, and experience higher rates of maternal and neonatal complications after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and comorbidities than Caucasian women. Epidemiologic studies indicate that lifestyle modification programs based on diet and exercise are promising approaches in controlling weight gain as well as in preventing type 2 diabetes in populations at risk. We hypothesize that overweight/obese minority women (Blacks and Hispanics) assigned to a culturally-grounded lifestyle intervention program based on diet and moderate exercise will result in higher compliance with Institute of Medicine guidelines for weight gain than women receiving standard care. Such lifestyle modifications should reduce risk of maternal and neonatal complications. We propose 1) to determine whether a lifestyle intervention program, based on diet and moderate physical activity implemented shortly after first recognition of pregnancy, will result in higher compliance with Institute of Medicine guidelines for weight gain compared to women receiving standard care; 2) to determine the occurrence of carbohydrate intolerance and GDM at 24-28 weeks gestation (after the first 10-12 weeks of intervention) and at 6 weeks postpartum between women in the lifestyle intervention group and women receiving standard care; and 3) to explore the impact of the lifestyle intervention on the development of maternal and fetal complications during pregnancy. By limiting excessive weight gain, the lifestyle intervention program may prevent the burden of obesity-related complications during pregnancy and reduce risk of subsequently developing overt diabetes.

Conditions

• Pregnancy
• Weight Gain

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Lifestyle Intervention group

Women on the intervention group will participate in a lifestyle program based on diet and moderate physical activity implemented shortly after first recognition of pregnancy. These women will attend monthly nutrition and physical activity educational sessions, and receive booster every 2 weeks.

BEHAVIORAL

Standard of Care

Patients randomized to the standard of care group will receive counseling routinely provided to all prenatal care women as recommended by the Institute of Medicine for appropriate nutrition and weight gain and ACOG guidelines for appropriate physical activity during pregnancy.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Guillermo Umpierrez

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Guillermo Umpierrez, MD · Emory University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

45 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-04-30

Primary Completion

2012-12-31

Completion

2012-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations