Exercise During Pregnancy Modulates Infant Body Fat And Cellular Adipogenesis

PURPOSE: Non-pharmaceutical interventions are needed to target the growing intergenerational cycle of obesity. Maternal exercise during pregnancy offers the first chance for reducing offspring obesity risk. We aimed to determine whether in utero exposure to exercise during pregnancy directly reduces infant adiposity. METHODS: Pregnant women underwent ~24 weeks of supervised exercise training, from which exercise frequency, intensity, time, and volume (FIT-V) were assessed. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) collected from the umbilical cord at delivery underwent 21 days of adipogenic differentiation, then Oil Red O staining for lipid content. Infant body composition (lean mass and body fat percentages) was measured at 1 month of age. ANCOVA and Pearson correlations determined the influence of prenatal exercise on infant adiposity. RESULTS: Exercise decreased infant body fat percentage (p = .009) and MSC lipid content (p = .01). Total exercise volume throughout pregnancy was negatively correlated with infant body fat % (R2 = .31, p = .02) due to lower subscapular skinfolds (R2 = .30, p = .02), while weekly exercise volume influenced infant BF% (R2 = - .31, p = .02) due to weekly exercise duration (R2 = - .37, p = .02) and not intensity. CONCLUSIONS:In utero exposure to exercise reduced whole-body and cellular infant adiposity in a dose-dependent manner. Supported by: Thrasher Research Foundation #02154 to AC; AHA grants #15GRNT24470029 and #18IPA34150006 to LEM.