Study visits
All visits during and after pregnancy took place in the morning after an overnight fast and included collection of anthropometric and body composition measurements, blood samples and completion of life-style questionnaires, as described elsewhere in detail22. As part of the PONCH study, the pregnant women were randomized into dietary intervention or control subgroups23; the intervention subgroup received dietary counseling to increase adherence with Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. In the current study, none of the outcome measures differed between women in the dietary intervention and those in control subgroups, and subjects in the dietary subgroups were evenly distributed in the NW and OB groups. Therefore, data for the intervention/control subgroups were combined in all analyses.
Body composition was measured by ADP with the Bod Pod Gold Standard system (Bod Pod 2007 A, Life Measurement, Concord, CA) and software versions 4.2.1 and 5.2.0. Adjustments were made for increased hydration of fat-free mass (FFM) during pregnancy in measurements made in T2 and T3 as described 24. The coefficient of variation (CV) for body composition measurements on our equipment was 2.4%. As part of the life-style questionnaires, the women were asked whether they had experienced nausea during pregnancy. This question was missing for part of the study resulting in a total of 54 women from the present study answering the question.