Effects of Physical Activity on Human Pregnancy Energetics: Testing Maternal Metabolic Limits

日常身体活动对健康很重要，并与怀孕期间的积极健康结果相关。然而，很少有研究探讨日常体力活动对母亲热量需求和妊娠期体重增加的影响，最近的研究表明，热量摄入和支出可能在怀孕期间受到限制。该项目研究了怀孕期间母体能量消耗是否有上限，并考虑了活动水平和其他生理任务（如胎儿生长）之间的潜在能量权衡。项目结果可以推进关于怀孕期间人类代谢和生理学的基础知识，并有助于讨论塑造人类两足行走，代谢，婴儿期和生活史的选择性压力。这项工作还可以为公共卫生研究以及怀孕期间的营养和锻炼管理提供信息。该项目支持学生在STEM方面的培训和指导，以及人类学家和临床医生之间的合作，使临床和基础研究社区受益。研究人员通过测量每日能量消耗（卡路里/天），每日能量摄入（卡路里/天），每日体力活动，体重增加和其他健康指标来测试母体代谢极限假设。母亲们被招募来代表广泛的日常身体活动，从那些久坐不动并计划在怀孕期间保持久坐不动的人到打算保持高运动负荷的运动员。每周跟踪母亲的日常活动和体重增加情况。每个参与者的能量消耗和摄入量测量两次：怀孕早期和晚期。健康结果来自常规医疗访问。母亲代谢极限假设得到支持，如果高活动的母亲在怀孕后期消耗相同数量的热量，母亲谁是久坐不动，如果高水平的运动产生负面影响的体重增加。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Daily physical activity is important for health and associated with positive health outcomes during pregnancy. However, few studies have examined the impact of daily physical activity on maternal calorie requirements and gestational weight gain, and recent research suggests that calorie intake and expenditure may be limited during pregnancy. This project examines whether there are upper limits on maternal energy expenditure during pregnancy and considers potential energy tradeoffs between activity level and other physiological tasks, such as fetal growth. Project results can advance fundamental knowledge about human metabolism and physiology during pregnancy and contribute to discussions about the selective pressures that have shaped hominin bipedalism, metabolism, infancy, and life history. The work can also inform public health research and the management of nutrition and exercise during pregnancy. The project supports student training and mentoring in STEM as well as collaborations between anthropologists and clinicians that benefit both clinical and basic research communities. The investigators test Maternal Metabolic Limits hypotheses by measuring daily energy expenditure (calories/day), daily energy intake (calories/day), daily physical activity, weight gain, and other health measures in a large sample of pregnant mothers. Mothers are recruited to represent a wide range of daily physical activity, from those who are sedentary and plan to remain sedentary through pregnancy to athletes who intend to maintain high exercise workloads. Mothers’ daily activity and weight gain are tracked weekly. Energy expenditure and intake are measured twice for each participant: early and late in pregnancy. Health outcomes are taken from routine medical visits. Maternal Metabolic Limits hypotheses are supported if highly active mothers expend the same amount of calories late in pregnancy as mothers who are more sedentary, and if high levels of exercise negatively impact weight gain.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.