Maternal recreational physical activity is associated with plasma leptin concentrations in early pregnancy

BACKGROUND: A limited amount of literature suggests that plasma leptin concentrations are reduced with habitual physical activity in men and non-pregnant women. We investigated the relationship between maternal physical activity and plasma leptin during early pregnancy. METHODS: The study population included 879 normotensive, non-diabetic pregnant women who reported physical activity type, frequency, and duration in early pregnancy. Plasma leptin, measured in blood samples collected 12.8 h/week) of time performing physical activity (28.1 ng/ml, P 70.4 MET-h/week) (2 8.3 ng/ml, P 5 0.001) compared with inactive women. Leptin was inversely associated with the intensity of physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with other reports suggesting an independent inverse relationship between habitual physical activity and leptin concentrations. Our findings extend the literature to include pregnant women.