title: Maternal physical activity before and during the prenatal period and the offspring's academic performance in youth. The UP&DOWN study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association of maternal physical activity before and during pregnancy with academic performance in youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 1868 youth (6-18 years) and their mothers. Mothers recalled their physical activity before and during pregnancy. Mothers were categorized into four groups: "remained active", "became inactive", "became active" and "remained inactive". Academic performance was assessed through school records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Boys whose mothers practiced physical activity before or during pregnancy had significantly higher scores in academic performance indicators independently of physical activity, fitness, current body mass index (BMI) and birthweight than those whose mothers did not practice physical activity before or during pregnancy (all p < 0.05). In addition, boys whose mothers remained active had higher scores in all academic indicators (ranging from +0.358 to +0.543) than boys whose mothers remained inactive. Boys whose mothers remained active had higher scores in Language (score +0.546; 95% CI, 0.150-0.940), average of Math and Language (score +0.468; 95% CI, 0.100-0.836) and grade point average (GPA) (score +0.368; 95% CI, 0.092-0.644) than boys whose mothers became active.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal physical activity before and during pregnancy may positively influence youth's academic performance. Continuing maternal physical activity practice during pregnancy may have greater benefits for youth's academic performance.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physical Education , Sports and Human Movement, Autonomous University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain .
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Esteban-Cornejo
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physical Education , Sports and Human Movement, Autonomous University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain .
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinez-Gomez
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physical Education , Sports and Human Movement, Autonomous University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain .
authors.forename: Carlos Ma
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Tejero-González
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physical Education , Sports and Human Movement, Autonomous University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain .
authors.forename: Rocio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Izquierdo-Gomez
authors.affiliation: b Department of Physical Education , School of Education, University of Cadiz , Puerto Real , Spain , and.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carbonell-Baeza
authors.affiliation: b Department of Physical Education , School of Education, University of Cadiz , Puerto Real , Spain , and.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castro-Piñero
authors.affiliation: c Department of Family and Preventive Medicine , University California San Diego , San Diego , CA , USA.
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sallis
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physical Education , Sports and Human Movement, Autonomous University of Madrid , Madrid , Spain .
authors.forename: Oscar L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Veiga
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
keywords: Academic performance; adolescents; children; maternal physical activity; pregnancy