Research

Energy balance

Exercise intervention alone (4x 45-min walks at 60-70% max heart rate) during lactation does not significantly improve cardiovascular risk factors (blood lipids, insulin, blood pressure) or VO2 max in overweight/obese women.

For postpartum women, moderate-intensity walking alone (4x 45 mins/week) may not be sufficient to improve cardiovascular risk factors or fitness levels. While it is a healthy activity, it did not drive metabolic improvements in this study, whereas dietary changes did. Focus on diet for metabolic health improvements in this specific population.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
No effects from the E treatment or any interaction effects were observed.
Hilde K. Brekke et al. · PLoS ONE · 2014

Why this rating

RCT design, but exploratory nature and modest sample size limit generalizability.

Source

Diet and Exercise Interventions among Overweight and Obese Lactating Women: Randomized Trial of Effects on Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Hilde K. Brekke et al. · PLoS ONE · 2014

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0088250

rct · n=68Cited 42×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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