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.