Abstract

Among the aspects to keep in mind in the search for a healthy pregnancy are adequate levels of physical activity for the mother. However, they tend to decrease during pregnancy due to physical changes, or the combination of various social and psychosocial factors, such as the traditional and erroneous belief that resting during pregnancy is the safest behavior. In fact, in Spain, only 20% of pregnant women meet the recommendations for physical activity for this stage. In this sense, the sedentary lifestyle adopted by many of these pregnant women predisposes them to an increased risk of obesity, hypertension or gestational diabetes, among other complications. Conversely, increasing physical activity levels during pregnancy is an effective tool in the prevention of gestational diabetes, hypertension, dyspnea, excessive weight gain, and fetal macrosomia, among others. In addition, physical exercise, defined as that planned, structured and repetitive physical activity, focused on improving physical condition, including moderate-vigorous intensity, provides multiple benefits on maternal and fetal health, without adverse effects.

Practicing physical exercise during pregnancy prevents abdominal diastasis reduces postpartum hospitalization time and the incidence of caesarean sections, improves insulin sensitivity and favors a baby with a better Apgar test score, greater neuronal development, better function cardiovascular and less fat. That is why, improving physical condition through regular physical exercise adapted during pregnancy could prevent the appearance of all kinds of cardiometabolic disorders in mother and newborn.

Finally, during pregnancy, the so-called “intrauterine fetal programming” occurs, where the positive or adverse overexpression of certain genetic polymorphisms in the child could be modulated by the diet, stress or levels of physical activity of the pregnant woman. In this sense, a healthy and active pregnant woman could promote her offspring to have a better state of health throughout her adult life. 

Status

Data collection, data analysis and publication preparation. 

Funding

Influence of maternal physical activity, fitness and diet on fetus Funding Entity: Andalucía Talent Hub Program of the Andalusian Knowledge Agency of the Andalusian Government, co-financed by the Seventh Framework Program of the European Community, Actions Marie Skłodowska-Curie (COFUND – Agreement nº291780) and by the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment of the Andalusian Government.

Date and duration: 03/01/2015 to 02/28/2017

Funding: € 156,763

Effects of a supervised physical exercise program during pregnancy on telomere length and gene expression markers related to adiposity in the mother and the newborn RCT: randomised controlled trial PI-0395-2016

Funding Entity: Health Department of the Andalusian Government.

Date and duration: 01/01/2017 to 12/31/2019 Funding: € 56,178

“Influence of a concurrent physical exercise program during pregnancy on the body composition, physical condition and motor, cognitive and language development of the offspring”. Acronym: GESTAFITOS. B‐ CTS ‐ 162 ‐ UGR18

Financing Entity: R&D Projects within the framework of the FEDER Andalucía Operational Program

Date and duration: 01/01/2020 to 12/31/2021

Publications

See also in The National Center for Biotechnology Information

1. Acosta-Manzano P, Acosta FM, Femia P, Coll-Risco I, Segura-Jiménez V, Díaz-Castro J, Ochoa-Herrera JJ, Van Poppel MNM, Aparicio VA. Association of sedentary time and physical activity levels with immunometabolic markers in early pregnancy: The GESTAFIT project. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2019 Sep 4. doi: 10.1111/sms.13547. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:31482592
2. Marín-Jiménez N, Acosta-Manzano P, Borges-Cosic M, Baena-García L, Coll-Risco I, Romero-Gallardo L, Aparicio VA Association of self-reported physical fitness with pain during pregnancy: The GESTAFIT Project.. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2019 Jul;29(7):1022-1030. doi: 10.1111/sms.13426. Epub 2019 Apr 29. PMID: 30933387
3. Baena-García L, Ocón-Hernández O, Acosta-Manzano P, Coll-Risco I, Borges-Cosic M, Romero-Gallardo L, de la Flor-Alemany M, Aparicio VA. Association of sedentary time and physical activity during pregnancy with maternal and neonatal birth outcomes. The GESTAFIT Project. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2019 Mar;29(3):407-414. doi: 10.1111/sms.13337. Epub 2018 Dec 17. PMID:30450596
4. Aparicio VA, Ocón O, Diaz-Castro J, Acosta-Manzano P, Coll-Risco I, Borges-Cósic M, Romero-Gallardo L, Moreno-Fernández J, Ochoa-Herrera JJ. Influence of a Concurrent Exercise Training Program During Pregnancy on Colostrum and Mature Human Milk Inflammatory Markers: Findings From the GESTAFIT Project. J Hum Lact. 2018 Nov;34(4):789-798. doi: 10.1177/0890334418759261. Epub 2018 Mar 30. PMID: 29601268
5. Aparicio VA, Ocón O, Padilla-Vinuesa C, Soriano-Maldonado A, Romero-Gallardo L, Borges-Cósic M, Coll-Risco I, Ruiz-Cabello P, Acosta-Manzano P, Estévez-López F, Álvarez-Gallardo IC, Delgado-Fernández M, Ruiz JR, Van Poppel MN, Ochoa-Herrera JJ. Effects of supervised aerobic and strength training in overweight and grade I obese pregnant women on maternal and foetal health markers: the GESTAFIT randomized controlled trial. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2016 Sep 29;16(1):290. PMID: 27680325
6. Coll-Risco I, Camiletti-Moirón D, Acosta-Manzano P, Aparicio VA. Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ) into Spanish. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2018 Jun 7:1-8. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2018.1479849. 
7. M Rodriguez-Ayllon, P Acosta-Manzano, I Coll-Risco, L Romero-Gallardo, M Borges-Cosic, F Estévez-López, VA. Aparicio. Associations of physical activity, sedentary time and physical fitness with mental health during pregnancy: The GESTAFIT Project. Journal of Sport and Health Science. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2019.04.003. In press. 
8. Romero-Gallardo, L; Soriano-Maldonado, A; Ocón-Hernández, O; Acosta-Manzano, P; Coll-Risco, I; Borges-Cosic, M; Ortega, F.B; Aparicio, V.A. International FItness Scale -IFIS: Validity and association with health-related quality of life in pregnant women. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. In press
9. L. Baena-García, I. Coll-Risco, O. Ocón-Hernández, L. Romero-Gallardo, P. Acosta-Manzano, L. May, V.A. Aparicio. Association of objectively measured physical fitness during pregnancy with maternal and neonatal birth outcomes. The GESTAFIT Project. PLOS-ONE. In press

In the media

This section is only available in the Spanish version of this webpage. We apologise for any inconvenience.