Effect of a nutritional intervention on changes in food consumption, physical activity and biochemical profile of overweight pregnant women: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Abstract

Promoting a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy is an important strategy for the prevention of maternal and fetal diseases in the short and long term. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a nutritional intervention on the change in food consumption, physical activity and biochemical profile of overweight adult pregnant women. This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled clinical trial, conducted with 350 overweight pregnant women in prenatal care at basic health units in the city of Ribeirão Preto/SP. Participants are randomly allocated into a control group (which receive the usual prenatal care) and intervention (which receive nutritional guidance at three different times). Data collection took place between october 2018 and october 2021, in seven basic health units in the city of Ribeirão Preto/SP. Socioeconomic data; anthropometrics; food consumption (four IR24h); practice of physical activity and biochemical tests (serum levels of blood glucose and fasting insulin, total cholesterol, LDL-c, HDL-c, triglycerides, and C-reactive protein) are obtained through two assessments, the first being performed until the 16th gestational week and the second, preferably between the 34th and 36th gestational weeks. Student's t test and chi-square will be used to analyze differences between groups in the first and second evaluations of the study. In addition, the mean difference in outcomes in each treatment group will be assessed using the 95% confidence interval.