An increasing number of women are entering pregnancy in an overweight or obese state.
Obese women and their offspring are at increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes,
which may be improved by regular moderate-intensity antenatal exercise. Current guidelines
recommend that all pregnant women without contraindications engage in ≥30 minutes
of moderate-intensity exercise on a daily basis. However, obese women are usually
less physically active and tend to further reduce activity levels during pregnancy.
This commentary summarizes the potential short- and long-term benefits of antenatal
exercise in obese pregnant women, highlights the challenges they face, and discusses
means of improving their exercise levels. In addition, we make recommendations on
exercise prescription for pregnancies complicated by obesity.
Key words
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: June 05, 2014
Accepted:
June 3,
2014
Received in revised form:
May 8,
2014
Received:
February 24,
2014
Footnotes
Supported by Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development , University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (grant number 12MP09).
The authors report no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
