Neurodevelopmental outcome in 7-year-old children is not affected by exercise during pregnancy: follow up of a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Abstract

To investigate whether regular moderate intensity exercise during pregnancy had adverse effect on neurodevelopment of offspring at 7years of age. Follow up of a multicentre randomised controlled trial. St Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital and Stavanger University Hospital, Norway (2007-09). Women randomised to follow a 12-week structured exercise protocol or standard antenatal care during pregnancy. At 7years of age, neurodevelopmental outcome was assessed by the parent questionnaire Five-To-Fifteen (FTF), including motor skills, executive functions, perception, memory, language, social skills and possible emotional/behavioural problems. Continuous and dichotomised (cut-off 90th centile) FTF scores. A total of 855 women were randomised to exercise (n=429) or standard antenatal care (n=426) during pregnancy. At follow up, 164 (38.2%) children born to mothers in the intervention group and 115 (27.0%) children born to mothers in the control group participated. We found no group differences in FTF scores or in the proportion of children with scores ≥90th centile. Stratified analyses by sex, subgroup analyses of women who adhered to the exercise protocol or sensitivity analyses excluding preterm children and/or children who had been admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit did not change the results. In the present randomised controlled trial follow-up study, regular moderate intensity exercise during pregnancy did not have adverse effect on neurodevelopment of offspring at 7years of age. Moderate intensity exercise during pregnancy had no adverse effect on neurodevelopment of offspring at 7years of age.