Dietary Intervention to Support Weight Loss and Fitness Recovery in Active Duty Women During the First Year After Pregnancy

What this Trial Is About

This research investigates how dietary intervention affects weight loss and physical fitness in active duty women after pregnancy. It focuses on the critical first 12 weeks postpartum, a key period for weight loss, and aims to determine if diet counseling leads to better outcomes than routine care. The study also examines factors like exercise, sleep, breastfeeding, and depression that may influence postpartum weight changes and fitness recovery in military women. Participants are primiparous active duty women recruited during the third trimester of pregnancy. They are randomly assigned to either receive intensive virtual dietary counseling throughout the first year postpartum or to receive routine postpartum care without counseling. Both groups are monitored closely for diet, exercise, and sleep using a biometric device, web-based diaries, and questionnaires. The intervention group has scheduled virtual appointments with a dietitian at multiple points in the first year. Data collection is most frequent in the first 12 weeks postpartum, followed by evaluations at 6, 9, and 12 months. Throughout the study, participants track their diet, activity, sleep, breastfeeding, and depression levels via digital tools and questionnaires. Researchers collect weight and fitness data at several timepoints, including a military fitness evaluation at 12 months postpartum. The primary outcomes are weight at 12 weeks postpartum and physical fitness at 12 months. Safety and adherence are monitored regularly, with the study lasting up to one year after delivery to assess long-term effects and factors influencing postpartum weight and fitness.

Weight Loss and Physical Fitness Following Pregnancy in Active Duty Women