Objectives: To ascertain prepregnancy physical activity and dietary intake from a sample of women in early
pregnancy and estimate the effect of prepregnancy lifestyle behaviors on the 1-hour glucose challenge test
(GCT).
Methods: We conducted a prospective analysis of a racially diverse urban-based sample of 152 pregnant women
in the first trimester who were participants in the Parity, Inflammation and Diabetes (PID) study. Dietary intake
before pregnancy was assessed using a modified version of the Block Rapid Food Screener, and leisure time
physical activity before pregnancy was assessed using the Baecke questionnaire. Test results from a nonfasting
oral GCT conducted between 26 and 28 weeks were abstracted from the medical record. Participants were
classified as having a positive GCT if the blood glucose measurement was ‡ 140 mg/dL and as negative with a
blood glucose measurement < 140 mg/dL. We constructed a series of multiple logistic regression models, adjusting
for potential confounders to determine if prepregnancy dietary intake and leisure activity were associated
with response to the GCT.
Results: Women with higher prepregnancy leisure activity scores were 68% less likely to have a 1-hour GCT
response ‡ 140mg/dL. However, there was no association between dietary intake and response to the GCT.
Conclusions: Our data suggest that prevention of an abnormal GCT result should include practices to encourage
women of reproductive age to engage in leisure physical activity in advance of planning a pregnancy.