Physical Activity in Women With Infants
Condition: Physical Activity
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 3

Summary: 
      This is a study testing ways to motivate new mothers to become more physically active over a
      one year period.
    

Detailed description: 
      Mothers of an infant are much less likely to exercise regularly compared with women who have
      older children or no children. This low level of physical activity (PA) contributes to
      postpartum weight retention which can predict levels of obesity up to 15 years later. Ethnic
      minorities have higher rates of inactivity and gain more weight following childbirth, which
      places them at increased risk for cancer and other chronic diseases consistent with known
      health disparities for these ethnic groups. Few PA interventions have been designed to
      increase PA in women with an infant, especially ethnic minority women. This study will test
      the efficacy of a tailored intervention to increase and maintain PA in a multiethnic
      population of 268 young, healthy postpartum women living in Hawaii. Women will be recruited
      from health care settings, mother/baby support groups, and from the media campaigns(TV,
      radio, newspaper, parents magazines). Subjects will be randomly assigned to either a tailored
      postpartum counseling intervention on PA or standard care for PA. The tailored PA
      intervention will address key personal, social, and environmental factors derived from Social
      Cognitive Theory and the Transtheoretical Model. Also, multimodal contacts (telephone,
      e-mail, website) will be used to deliver theoretically-derived, culturally sensitive PA
      counseling,behavioral skills training (e.g., goal setting), and local resources/referrals
      tailored to a mother with an infant. The standard care condition receives American Heart
      Association/American College of Sports Medicine print materials/e-mails and referral to PA
      internet resources.

      The primary PA outcome is minutes of moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week, as
      measured by the Active Australia Questionnaire, with validation by accelerometers worn by all
      subjects. Condition differences in the initiation of PA will be tested at 6 and 12 months
      post-baseline. Key psychosocial, physiological, and cultural factors will be tested as
      mediators or moderators of PA, for example: self-efficacy, social support, processes of
      change, ethnicity, BMI, and cultural values. This study will serve as a model for the design
      and implementation of PA interventions for at-risk ethnic minority postpartum women.
    

Intervention name(s): physical activity tailored; physical activity standard
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): tailored telephone counseling, email feedback, and website resources over 12 months; standard print and website information on how to become more active
Other intervention name(s): tailored exercise advice; standard information about physical activity
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: physical activity standard; exercise