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Maternal Exercise and Growth in Breastfed Infants: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Pediatrics, 07/13/2012
Daley AJ et al. – It appears that mothers can exercise and breastfeed without detriment to the growth of their infants, but this is based on limited evidence, and more research is required before this finding is confirmed.
Methods- Searches of the following electronic bibliographic databases were performed to identify RCTs: Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), Medline/PubMed, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and SPORT Discus.
- RCTs that compared any type of exercise intervention with other treatments or no treatment in women exclusively or predominately breastfeeding were eligible for inclusion, as were trials involving exercise as a cointervention.
- Two authors extracted data from studies independently.
- Four RCTs (5 comparisons) were included in the meta-analysis of infant weight gain that incorporated 170 participants.
- In breastfed infants, maternal exercise did not significantly affect infant weight gain.
- Only 1 trial assessed infant gain in length; no difference between the exercise and control groups was reported. Trials were classified as moderate or good methodological quality (moderate risk of bias).
