TUESDAY, March 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Higher maternal physical activity is associated with early child neurodevelopment, according to a study published online March 3 in JAMA Network Open.
Io Kumasaka, M.D., from the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in Sendai, Japan, and colleagues examined the association between maternal physical activity before and during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children in a cohort study. Mother-child pairs were recruited, with child follow-up from birth to 3 years. The analysis included 38,219 mother-child pairs.
The researchers found that in multivariable logistic regression, higher maternal physical activity was associated with child neurodevelopment. There was an association seen for higher prepregnancy activity with significantly higher odds for each Ages & Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ-3) domain at age 6 months and for higher midpregnancy activity with increased odds of gross motor, fine motor, and problem-solving domains (odds ratios, 1.18, 1.60, and 1.23, respectively). Higher odds for the problem-solving domain at age 3 years were seen in association with higher prepregnancy activity (odds ratio, 1.16); no association was seen with any other domain. No association was seen for midpregnancy activity with higher odds of any ASQ-3 domain at age 3 years.
"I think that the key takeaway is that kids are very, very malleable, and there are certain things that we can do and choose to do during pregnancy that might benefit or have the potential to benefit the children," Rosa Cui, M.D., from the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Health in Uniondale, New York, said in a statement.