Samantha Ehrlich, from the Department of Public Health, and colleagues have an article published in the newest volume of The Lancet: Diabetes & Endocrinology Journal, that examines whether a lifestyle intervention can help women manage weight gain during pregnancy. The evidence-based lifestyle intervention, which was designed to be adapted and adopted by health-care delivery systems, sought to prevent excess weight gain during pregnancy, and improve health behaviors and markers of insulin resistance among women with overweight or obesity. The intervention was delivered primarily by tele-health (i.e., telephone sessions with a lifestyle coach focused on weight management, healthy eating, physical activity, and stress management), which is rather timely given the COVID pandemic and current need to expand the provision of tele-health services. Studies have shown that gaining too much weight during pregnancy increases the risk of several adverse outcomes (gestational diabetes, caesarean delivery, having a large for gestational age infant, and post-partum weight retention, and the child’s risk of obesity). Women entering pregnancy with overweight or obesity are already at increased risk of these outcomes. Therefore, preventing excess pregnancy weight gain in women with overweight or obesity is a public health priority.
Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(20)30107-8