Adaptive changes in multiple aspects of emotion regulation in the offspring of pregnant persons receiving a diet-and-exercise intervention relative to usual pregnancy care: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundHuman studies examining the influence of prenatal diet and/or exercise interventions on offspring neurodevelopment are mixed. Interventions that include the provision of whole foods, nutritional counselling, address exercise behaviors, and that utilize multimethod assessments of offspring emotion regulation may better reveal the impact of these interventions on neurodevelopment. ObjectiveTo explore whether the Be Healthy in Pregnancy (BHIP) prenatal diet-and-exercise intervention improves emotion regulation (ER) in 22-month-old offspring. MethodsPregnant persons (>18 years, singleton pregnancy) were recruited between 12-17 weeks gestation and randomized to the intervention [high protein energy-controlled diet via the provision of cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, low-fat milk, individualized biweekly nutritional counselling, a controlled walking program, and usual pregnancy care (UPC)] or control (UPC alone) groups. ER in offspring (mage=22.2(SD=4.04); 50.9% female; intervention: n=29, control: n=28) was assessed using reports from pregnant persons and their partners on the Child Behavior Checklist, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version, laboratory observational tasks examining inhibitory control, attention, and empathy, and high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV). ResultsChildren exposed to the BHIP intervention exhibited medium to large effect size reductions in pregnant person and partner reported externalizing (effect size ƞ2pmother=0.08, 95% CI of the difference[0.05,7.14]; ƞ2ppartner=0.17[1.68,9.65]), internalizing ƞ2pmother=0.08[0.09,5.32]; ƞ2ppartner=0.13[0.84,8.88]) and total behavior problems ƞ2pmother=0.09[0.72,11.87];; ƞ2ppartner=0.17 [3.17,17.88]) relative to control participants’ children. Pregnant persons, but not partners, reported fewer problems with inhibitory control (ƞ2p=0.13[1.40,8.55]), cognitive flexibility (ƞ2p=0.08[0.18,4.85]), emergent metacognition (ƞ2p=0.14[2.00,11.59]), and global executive function (ƞ2p=0.14[3.37,20.12]). Intervention children displayed fewer impulsive behaviors (ƞ2p=0.11[0.16,1.77]) and a longer attention span (ƞ2p=0.08[0.30,13.34]). Finally, intervention children exhibited greater baseline HF-HRV (ƞ2p=0.10[0.16,2.01]), and adaptive HF-HRV reactivity during the impulsivity (ƞ2p=0.12[0.20,2.19]) and attention tasks (ƞ2p=0.21[0.74,2.77]). ConclusionsThis intervention was associated with medium/large effect size improvements in offspring ER. Larger trials are needed to confirm the potential of these interventions on offspring neurodevelopment. Clinical Trial RegistryNCT01689961, Sept 21, 2012