Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet and Activity to Limit Gestational Weight: Maternal Offspring Metabolics Family Intervention Trial, a Technology Enhanced Randomized Trial

Technology-enhanced antenatal diet and lifestyle intervention could prevent excess gestational weight gain and benefit mother and child. A randomized clinical trial. Overweight and obese ethnically diverse pregnant women in Chicago, Illinois, were enrolled between October 2012 and December 2015, with antenatal data collection completed by July 2016. Analysis was completed June 2017. Participants were randomized when their fetus was gestational age 16 weeks to dietitian-led Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet and physical activity coaching that was received as three individual and six group counseling sessions by phone and webinar. A commercially available smartphone application was used for self-monitoring diet and physical activity. Telephone, text message prompts, and e-mail reminders encouraged adherence and website viewing. Usual-care, “web-watcher” participants were e-mailed biweekly newsletters and publicly available maternity website links. The primary outcome was gestational weight gain measured at baseline, 24 weeks, and 35.0–36.6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included weekly rate of gestational weight gain, newborn anthropometrics, maternal diet quality, physical activity, and blood pressure. Among 281 participants randomized (n=140 in intervention, n=141 in usual care, BMI 25 to