Adaptive changes in multiple aspects of emotion regulation in the offspring of pregnant persons receiving a diet-and-exercise intervention relative to usual pregnancy care: a randomized controlled trial

Background

Human studies examining the influence of prenatal diet and/or exercise interventions on offspring neurodevelopment are mixed. Interventions that include the provision of whole foods, nutritional counseling, address exercise behaviors, and that utilize multimethod assessments of offspring emotion regulation (ER) may better reveal the impact of these interventions on neurodevelopment.

Objectives

To explore whether the Be Healthy in Pregnancy (BHIP) prenatal diet-and-exercise intervention improves ER in 22-mo-old offspring.

Methods

Pregnant persons (>18 y, singleton pregnancy) were recruited between 12 and 17 wk gestation and randomly assigned to the intervention [high protein energy-controlled diet via the provision of cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, low-fat milk, individualized biweekly nutritional counseling, a controlled walking program, and usual pregnancy care (UPC)] or control (UPC alone) groups. ER in offspring [m_age = 22.2 (SD = 4.04); 50.9% female; intervention: n = 29, control: n = 28] was assessed using reports from pregnant persons and their partners on the Child Behavior Checklist, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version, laboratory observational tasks examining inhibitory control, attention, and empathy, and high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV).

Results

Children exposed to the BHIP intervention exhibited medium to large effect size reductions in pregnant person and partner reported externalizing [effect size ƞ²p_mother = 0.08, 95% confidence interval of the difference (0.05, 7.14); ƞ²p_partner = 0.17 (1.68, 9.65)], internalizing [ƞ²p_mother = 0.08 (0.09, 5.32); ƞ²p_partner = 0.13 (0.84, 8.88)], and total behavior problems [ƞ²p_mother = 0.09 (0.72, 11.87); ƞ²p_partner = 0.17 (3.17, 17.88)] relative to control participants’ children. Pregnant persons, but not partners, reported fewer problems with inhibitory control [ƞ²p = 0.13 (1.40, 8.55)], cognitive flexibility [ƞ²p = 0.08 (0.18, 4.85)], emergent metacognition [ƞ²p = 0.14 (2.00, 11.59)], and global executive function [ƞ²p = 0.14 (3.37, 20.12)]. Intervention children displayed fewer impulsive behaviors [ƞ²p = 0.11 (0.16, 1.77)] and a longer attention span [ƞ²p = 0.08 (0.30, 13.34)]. Finally, intervention children exhibited greater baseline HF-HRV [ƞ²p = 0.10 (0.16, 2.01)], and adaptive HF-HRV reactivity during the impulsivity [ƞ²p = 0.12 (0.20, 2.19)], and attention tasks [ƞ²p = 0.21 (0.74, 2.77)].

Conclusions

This intervention was associated with medium/large effect size improvements in offspring ER. Larger trials are needed to confirm the potential of these interventions on offspring neurodevelopment.

Trial registration number

This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01689961 (21 September, 2012).