Indian Journal of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy - An International Journal

Excessive gestational weight gain has been shown to be related to high-postpartum weight retention and the development of overweight and obesity with their co-morbidities such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, stroke etc later in life. Studies have reported conflicting findings on the effects of aerobic exercise on GWG of healthy pregnant women. This study therefore systematical reviewed such studies.

The PICO method was used to define the four major components of the systematic review question. Electronic databases such as Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Science Direct, PubMed, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) were searched online to find papers. The methodological qualities of the primary studies were assessed using their PEDro score (9–10 = excellent; 6–8 = good; 4–5 = fair; 4 = poor).

A total of 868 articles were generated from the search strategy; 5 articles fulfilled all the criteria and were selected for this review. Majority of the studies did not report the parity of their participants (60%) and recruited pregnant women at any stage of their pregnancy (40%). most of the studies were either of good methodological quality (40%) or of poor methological quality (40%). Majority of the studies prescribed walking as their mode of aerobic exercise training(60%), that lasted between 26minutes and 50mintes (80%) at a frequency of 3 to 5 sessions per week (80%) for 8-16weeks (60%) at light to moderate intensity (100%). The overall combined effects of the studies was significantly in favour of aerobic exercise (SMD =-0.03, 95% CI =-0.51, -0.09).

Aerobic exercise such as brisk walking for 25–50 minutes per day, 3–5 times per week at light to moderate intensity for up to 8–16 weeks can be used to reduce excessive weight gain during pregnancy.