Research
Mixed
Diet and physical activity based interventions during pregnancy do not significantly reduce the risk of composite maternal or offspring outcomes, nor individual outcomes like gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, or preterm delivery in IPD meta-analysis.
While lifestyle interventions may not significantly reduce the risk of all maternal and offspring complications combined, they do reduce weight gain and caesarean section risk. Focus on these proven benefits.
GoodRefutesMEDIUM confidence
Although summary effect estimates favoured the intervention, the reductions in maternal (odds ratio 0.90, 95% confidence interval 0.79 to 1.03, I2=26.7%; 24 studies, 8852 women) and offspring (0.94, 0.83 to 1.08, I2=0%; 18 studies, 7981 women) composite outcomes were not statistically significant.
Why this rating
IPD meta-analysis, but confidence intervals cross 1.0 for composite outcomes.
Source
Effect of diet and physical activity based interventions in pregnancy on gestational weight gain and pregnancy outcomes: meta-analysis of individual participant data from randomised trials
The International Weight Management in Pregnancy (i-WIP) Collaborative Group · BMJ · 2017
DOI 10.1136/bmj.j3119
Meta-analysis · 36 studiesCited 534×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Diet and physical activity based interventions during pregnancy significantly reduce gestational weight gain compared to routine care, with a mean difference of -0.70 kg.Strong
- Diet and physical activity based interventions during pregnancy significantly reduce the odds of caesarean section.Strong
- Physical activity based interventions specifically reduce the odds of gestational diabetes, whereas diet-based interventions do not show a significant reduction in gestational diabetes in IPD meta-analysis.Good
Related findings · Mixed
- Bariatric surgery (VSG and RYGB) is the most effective and sustainable treatment for obesity, producing marked and sustained weight loss that non-surgical interventions cannot match.Strong
- Severely protein-deficient diets (2–3% energy) induce lean body mass loss and metabolic imbalance, whereas adequate protein intake (0.66 g/kg/d minimum) is a prerequisite for maintaining muscle, bone, and physiological function.Strong
- For patients with Class III obesity (BMI >39.9 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) is significantly more effective than any currently approved medication, with BilioPancreatic Diversion (BPD) showing the highest estimated weight loss.Strong
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