Peer-reviewed article
Long-lasting effects of pregnancy and childbirth on physical activity in early school-age children.
Szablewska AW, Wencel S, Santos-Rocha R, Szumilewicz A ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how pregnancy and childbirth factors affect physical activity levels in children aged 7-10 years. Researchers surveyed 207 mothers about their pregnancy, delivery, and their children's current physical activity. Children whose mothers were physically active during pregnancy, had no chronic diseases, and had vaginal births showed higher activity levels. The study suggests that maternal health and activity during pregnancy are connected to children's physical activity habits later in life.
Key points
- Children of mothers who were physically active during pregnancy had higher activity levels
- Children whose mothers had no chronic diseases during pregnancy showed higher activity levels
- Children born vaginally had higher activity levels than those born by other routes
- No significant relationship found between children's activity and birth weight or neonatal complications
- Early childhood is identified as a critical period when health habits form
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study, so it cannot determine causation or the direction of effects. Maternal physical activity during pregnancy was measured retrospectively through questionnaire, which may be subject to recall bias.
Abstract
Recent data indicate that only one-third of adults and children achieve the recommended level of physical activity. Early childhood is the time when health habits are formed, and physical activity is crucial for children’s development. Their low levels of physical activity are a global problem. Therefore, it is important to study the influence of factors affecting children’s physical activity. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between prenatal and perinatal factors—including maternal age, chronic diseases during pregnancy, smoking, physical activity during pregnancy, delivery complications, and the route and duration of delivery—and the physical activity levels of children aged 7–10 years. The study was conducted as a cross-sectional observational study with 207 mothers of children who completed a questionnaire on the course of pregnancy and delivery and the PAQ-A Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents, assessing their children’s physical activity levels. Statistical analysis showed a higher level of activity among children whose mothers had no chronic diseases, were active during pregnancy and gave birth vaginally. No statistically significant differences were found between children’s activity levels and sociodemographical data, birth mass or complications of the neonatal period. The results indicate that children’s health habits are strongly related to mothers’ physical activity during pregnancy and their health status. The findings can be used to develop intervention strategies to promote physical activity among pregnant women and their children, thus, improving their future health.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- maternal physical activity during pregnancy and maternal health status
- Population
- Children aged 7-10 years and their mothers (207 mother-child pairs)
Key finding
Higher activity levels in children whose mothers were active during pregnancy
AW et al. · Europe PMC · 1 Sept 2025