Infant Growth During the First Year of Life Following a Pregnancy Lifestyle Intervention in Routine Care-Findings from the Cluster-randomised GeliS Trial

Background: Lifestyle interventions in pregnancy may influence postpartum development and obesity risk in offspring. The impact of lifestyle interventions as health system-based approaches is unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of an antenatal lifestyle intervention conducted as public health approach on infant development and feeding practices.

Methods: We followed offspring born to women participating in the cluster-randomised GeliS trial who received usual care (CG) or repeated lifestyle counselling (IG). We collected data on offspring development and complementary feeding until the 12 month postpartum.

Results: Of the 1998 mother-child pairs, 1783 completed the follow-up. Mean infant weight at 12 months was comparable between groups (IG: 9497.9 ± 1137.0 g; CG: 9433.4 ± 1055.2 g; P = .177). There was no significant evidence of differences in sex- and age-adjusted z-scores or in the odds of offspring being overweight. More infants in the IG received whole-grain products compared to the CG (95.6% vs. 90.8%; P = .003). Despite small differences in the timing of introducing solid foods, there were no further significant differences in the pattern of complementary feeding.

Conclusions: The antenatal lifestyle intervention embedded in routine care did not substantially influence infant anthropometrics and is thus unlikely to impact future development.