Association of prepregnancy physical activity with obesity in offspring: The Japan Environment and Children's Study

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the association between maternal prepregnancy physical activity (PA) and overweight/obesity in 3-year-old children. Methods Using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study (a birth cohort study), maternal prepregnancy PA was categorized into low, moderate, and high with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The reference group was defined as children born to mothers with moderate PA. The association between prepregnancy PA and overweight/obesity or obesity in children was investigated using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results Of the 65,245 participants, 48.7%, 32.7%, and 18.6% were born to mothers in the low, moderate, and high PA groups, respectively. Furthermore, 24.9%, 24.6%, and 25.9% of children with overweight/obesity and 9.4%, 9.2%, and 10.4% of children with obesity were born to mothers in the low, moderate, and high PA groups, respectively. The adjusted odds ratios for overweight/obesity in the low and high PA groups were 1.02 (95% CI: 0.98-1.06) and 1.04 (95% CI: 0.98-1.09), and those for obesity were 1.03 (95% CI: 0.97-1.09) and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.99-1.16), respectively. Conclusions Maternal prepregnancy PA was not associated with overweight/obesity or obesity in 3-year-old children.

Automated summary

This study investigated the association between maternal prepregnancy physical activity and overweight/obesity in 3-year-old children and found no association between maternal physical activity and overweight/obesity or obesity in children.