Effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity during pregnancy - interventions that decrease sedentary behavior (SB) and improve physical activity (PA) provide a path to improve maternal…

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded The University of Central Florida Board Of Trustees $304,000 on September 10, 2025, through the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) to support research on interventions to promote physical activity during pregnancy and reduce sedentary behavior among pregnant women.

The research focuses on the effectiveness of interventions designed to decrease sedentary behavior and improve physical activity as a path to enhance maternal and infant health outcomes. Sedentary behavior during pregnancy—defined as sitting, reclining, or lying while awake with activity energy expenditure of 1.5 metabolic equivalent of task or less—is a modifiable risk factor associated with adverse maternal health outcomes including psychological distress, gestational weight gain, impaired sleep, impaired glucose regulation, and hypertension. The research also addresses associated infant outcomes such as earlier gestational age at birth and macrosomia. Pregnant women accumulate more than 12 hours of sedentary time daily, exceeding rates among the average U.S. reproductive-age woman.

The award runs through July 31, 2028, with performance conducted in Orlando, Florida. This is a Project Grant, the standard assistance type for NIH research project support.

Effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity during pregnancy - interventions that decrease sedentary behavior (SB) and improve physical activity (PA) provide a path to improve maternal health and infant outcomes. Sedentary behavior (sitting, reclining, or lying while awake; activity energy expenditure of 1.5 metabolic equivalent of task [met]) during pregnancy is a modifiable factor associated with adverse maternal health (e.g., psychological distress, gestational weight gain, impaired sleep, impaired glucose regulation, hypertension) and infant (e.g., earlier gestational age at birth, macrosomia [>4,000 grams]) health outcomes. Pregnant women are more sedentary than the average U.S. Reproductive age woman (>12 hours/day VS.