Cody J Strom¹*, Samantha M McDonald², Kimberly A Kew³, Joseph A Houmard^4,5, David A Tulis⁶, Roman Pawlak⁷, George A Kelley⁸, Lisa Chasan-Taber⁹, Edward Newton¹⁰, Christy Isler¹⁰, James DeVente¹⁰ Breanna Wisseman⁴ and Linda E May^4,10,11

¹Department of Kinesiology and Sport, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, USA
²School of Kinesiology and Recreation, Illinois State University, Normal, USA
³Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University (ECU), Greenville, USA
⁴College of Health and Human Performance, Department of Kinesiology, ECU, Greenville, USA
⁵East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute, ECU, Greenville, USA
⁶Department of Physiology, Brody School of Medicine, ECU, Greenville, USA
⁷Department of Nutrition Science, ECU, Greenville, USA
⁸Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA
⁹Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
¹⁰College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brody School of Medicine, ECU, Greenville, USA
¹¹School of Dental Medicine, Department of Foundational Sciences and Research, ECU, Greenville, USA

*Corresponding Author: Cody J Strom, Department of Kinesiology and Sport, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, USA.

Received: July 21, 2022; Published: August 11, 2022

Abstract

Evidence indicates that poor nutrition and physical inactivity during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of the child developing obesity, type 2 diabetes, and/or heart disease later in life. Current research demonstrates that maternal aerobic exercise and supplementation of Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) during pregnancy are associated with improved maternal lipid profiles and infant outcomes, such as a decreased risk of childhood obesity and improved infant cardiac autonomic function (i.e., lower heart rate (HR), increased heart rate variability (HRV)). Currently, the relationships between maternal DHA and EPA with maternal exercise on maternal lipids, infant body composition, and infant cardiac autonomic development are not known. The purpose of this literature review is to synthesize the current state of scientific evidence regarding the effects of prenatal aerobic exercise and maternal DHA and EPA concentrations on maternal lipids as well as infant body composition and cardiac autonomic health. In this review, we examine the individual influence of maternal exercise or DHA and EPA supplementation on maternal lipid profiles, infant body composition, and infant heart outcomes.

Keywords: Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA); Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA); Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA); Pregnancy; Infant

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Citation

Citation: Cody J Strom., et al. “A Narrative Review of the Individual Benefits of Maternal Exercise or PUFA Supplementation During Pregnancy: Are We Missing Something?". Acta Scientific Women's Health 4.9 (2022): 11-22.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Cody J Strom., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.