ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess the effects of exercise on pregnant women in controlling glucose levels and body mass index (BMI).
Methods: A total of ninety (90) pregnant women were enrolled from 3 health centers- Kitty Health Centre, Herstelling Health Centre and Versailles Health Centre in Guyana. The study population was randomly assigned to an Intervention group (IG) and Control group (CG). Body Mass Index (BMI) and Random Blood Sugar (RBS) levels were compared before and after intervention. Multivariate correlation analysis and t tests were performed to find the differences between pre and post interventions.
Results: IG had 73.7% obese in IG and 26.3% obese in CG during the initial phase. Final phase showed a 50% decrease in BMI of IG were a BMI increase of 50% in CG. The adjusted RBS in the IG decreased from 30% - 5% in 280-459 glucose level range were as in CG RBS increased from 50% - 75% in the 280-339 range. A correlation of 0.94 (95% CI 0.89-0.97, p<0.0001) and a correlation of 0.97 (95% CI 0.94-0.98) were shown among IG and CG respectively for RBS. BMI among IG showed a significant correlation of 0.97 (95% CI 0.95-0.98, p<0.0001) pre and final BMI were as CG showed a correlation of 0.96 (95% CI 0.94-0.98, p<0.0001).
Conclusion: This study concludes that physically active pregnant women showed a less weight gain during pregnancy and also were at a less risk of suffering from impaired glucose tolerance.
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