The safety and efficacy of supervised exercise on pregnant women with overweight/obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Behavioural modification through physical activity and dietary counselling has been shown to have beneficial effects on pregnant women with overweight/obesity. Whether exercise alone with supervision (ie, supervised exercise) may also benefit for pregnant women with overweight/obesity is still unknown. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of supervised exercise on pregnant women with overweight/obesity. PubMed, Cochrane library, Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), and Web of Science were used to search publications using a combination of main keywords “obesity”, “exercise”, “pregnant women”, and “randomised controlled trial”. From a total of 740 publications, 11 randomized controlled trials were included. All studies reported no adverse effects of supervised exercise on pregnant women with overweight/obesity. Of interest, this meta-analysis showed gestational weight gain (GWG) was lower in the supervised exercise group as compared to control (Mean difference 0.88 kg, 95CI -1.73 to −0.03, P =.04). There was a significant effect of supervised exercise on post-prandial blood glucose (MD: -0.24, 95CI -0.47 to −0.01, P =.04) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (MD: -0.18, 95CI -0.30 to −0.05, P =.005). There were no differences in risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, pre-eclampsia/gestational hypertension, and newborn outcomes (eg, infants birth weight, preterm birth incident, and gestational age) (all P >.05). This meta-analysis might suggest beneficial effects of supervised exercise on pregnant women with overweight/obesity to prevent excessive GWG, attenuates insulin resistance, and the post-prandial blood glucose level. © 2020 World Obesity Federation