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Impact of Prenatal Activity on Child Growth Trajectories: Findings from the APrON Study

Brittany A Matenchuk1, Laura Osachoff1, Chenxi Cai2

  • 1Program for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health, Physical Activity and Diabetes Laboratory, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, Women and Children's Health Research Institute, Alberta Diabetes Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, CANADA.

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|October 28, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal physical activity impacts child growth differently based on the type of activity. Higher maternal work and leisure activity were linked to specific child growth trajectories, while total activity showed no association.

Area of Science:

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Maternal physical activity during pregnancy is crucial for fetal development.
  • Understanding the specific impact of different physical activity domains is important for guiding recommendations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between prenatal physical activity domains and child growth trajectories from birth to three years.
  • To identify if different types of physical activity (work, leisure, sports) have distinct effects on child growth patterns.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) cohort (N=1,725).
  • Assessed prenatal physical activity using the Baecke Questionnaire across trimesters, generating latent activity trajectories.
  • Identified four child growth trajectories (length, weight, BMI) using multi-trajectory modeling and WHO z-scores.
  • Employed multinomial logistic regression to analyze associations between prenatal activity and growth trajectories.

Main Results:

  • Four distinct child growth trajectories were identified: Low Length Low Weight, Reference, Low Length Moderate Weight, and High Length High Weight.
  • Maternal total physical activity was not significantly associated with any child growth trajectory.
  • Increased maternal work activity was associated with a higher risk of the Low Length Low Weight trajectory.
  • Higher maternal leisure activity was linked to an increased likelihood of the Low Length Moderate Weight trajectory.

Conclusions:

  • Different domains of physical activity during pregnancy have varying associations with child growth trajectories.
  • Maternal work and leisure activities during pregnancy may influence specific patterns of child growth up to age three.
Abstract

Keywords:
CHILDGROWTHPREGNANCYTRAJECTORY

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