Abstract
Background Obesity is a major public health problem. The prevalence of obesity in women of reproductive age ranges from 7 to 25% in European countries. Children of women who were obese before or during pregnancy are at increased risk for neurodevelopmental delay and behavioral problems. Improving the lifestyle of obese women before and during pregnancy may have a great potential to optimize child neurobehavioral development, but no previous study has assessed this however. We examined the effects of two maternal lifestyle interventions before and during pregnancy in obese women on child neurobehavioral development. Methods This study concerns the follow-up of two randomized controlled trials that were successful in reducing maternal weight or gestational weight gain: the Finnish RADIEL and the Dutch LIFEstyle trial. Women with a pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 29 kg/m2 wishing to conceive or who were already pregnant ( Results We had data of 161 (40%) RADIEL and 96 (32%) LIFEstyle children. In both studies, child total neurodevelopmental score (B = −0.17, 95% confidence interval (−0.51 to 0.16) and B = 0.06 (−0.38 to 0.51) respectively) and total behavioral problem score (B = −0.06 (−0.38 to 0.27) and B = 0.01 (−0.47 to 0.48) respectively) did not differ between children of the intervention and the control group. Children of the intervention and the control group also did not differ in neurodevelopmental domain scores and specific behavioral problem scores. Also, when comparing children of the mothers of the intervention group who attained the lifestyle intervention goal with children of mothers of the control group, no differences in neurobehavioral development were found. Conclusion Although previous findings of neurobehavioral problems in children of obese mothers give reason to suggest maternal (pre-) pregnancy lifestyle intervention to be preventive, this follow-up of two randomized controlled trials is the first to show that lifestyle interventions before and during pregnancy in obese women do not affect child neurobehavioral development at age 3–5 years.
Published Version
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