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Prenatal exercise regulates influence of parental body mass index on birth outcomes

Alex Claiborne1, Filip Jevtovic1, Ericka M Biagioni1

  • 1Department of Kinesiology, East Carolina University (ECU), Greenville, NC, USA; Human Performance Laboratory, ECU, Greenville, NC, USA; East Carolina Diabetes & Obesity Institute, ECU, Greenville, NC, USA.

Early Human Development
|June 27, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal exercise can help reduce the intergenerational risk of obesity. Supervised exercise during pregnancy improved neonatal body mass index (BMI) outcomes, suggesting a way to break the cycle of obesity from parent to child.

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Health
  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Parental overweight and obesity increase offspring obesity risk.
  • Exercise during pregnancy is known to reduce gestational weight gain and offspring adiposity.
  • Intergenerational transmission of obesity is a significant public health concern.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of parental overweight/obesity on neonatal anthropometrics.
  • To determine if prenatal exercise interventions improve birth outcomes.
  • To assess the intergenerational relationship of body mass index (BMI).

Main Methods:

  • Supervised prenatal exercise (aerobic, resistance, or combination) throughout pregnancy.
  • Measurement of neonatal morphometrics, heart rate, Apgar, and reflex scores.
  • Statistical analysis including t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson correlations to assess exercise effects and intergenerational BMI links.

Main Results:

  • Offspring birth weight and weight-to-length ratio were higher when born to parents with overweight or obesity.
  • Neonatal body mass index (BMI) showed a trend towards reduction in infants of exercising mothers.
  • Prenatal exercise intervention demonstrated potential benefits for neonatal anthropometrics.

Conclusions:

  • Exercise during pregnancy may serve as a strategy to mitigate the intergenerational cycle of obesity.
  • Prenatal exercise interventions can positively influence neonatal outcomes, potentially reducing future obesity risks.
  • These findings support the role of maternal exercise in preventing offspring obesity.
Abstract

Keywords:
BMIBirth outcomesBirth weightObesityPrenatal exercise

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