Kontakt 2021, 23(4):247-255 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2021.051

The importance of physical activity in improving preconception healthNursing - Review article

Mirko Prosen1, *, Boštjan Žvanut1, Patrik Pucer1, Ana Polona Mivšek2, Petra Petročnik2, Jouni Tuomi3
1 University of Primorska, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, Izola, Slovenia
2 University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, Midwifery Department, Ljubljana, Slovenia
3 Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Tampere, Finland

Introduction: Preconception care practices include physical activity, which is identified as an important indicator of behavioural preconception health. A scoping review was conducted to examine the association between physical activity in preconception health and its long-term effects on the later life of the offspring.

Methods: The literature was searched in databases CINAHL, ScienceDirect and PubMed, using keywords determined by the study objective. In total, 755 published manuscripts were identified. Two additional manuscripts were identified through manual searching. A total of 17 manuscripts was selected for the final analysis. The data were extracted and summarized using thematic analysis.

Results: The selected studies were summarized in two categories: (1) studies associated with physical activity and preconception health behaviour (n = 8), and (2) studies associated with preconception physical activity, fertility, and pregnancy outcomes (n = 9).

Conclusions: Despite limited evidence, other indirect scientific evidence shows that physical activity positively affects health, and is therefore strongly recommended during the preconception period. Policymakers, researchers, and healthcare professionals should join efforts in examining the impact of physical activity on preconception health, fertility and birth outcomes, and effectively translate the findings into preconception health guidelines and public policies.

Keywords: Fertility; Health promotion; Health behaviour; Physical activity; Preconception care; Public health
Grants and funding:

The research was supported by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union “Preconception health of youth, bridging the gap in and through education – PreconNet” (https://preco.tamk.fi/; grant number 2018-1-FI01-KA203-047245). The funding source had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors declare no potential conflict of interests with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Received: June 29, 2021; Revised: September 20, 2021; Accepted: November 19, 2021; Prepublished online: November 30, 2021; Published: December 6, 2021  Show citation

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Prosen M, Žvanut B, Pucer P, Mivšek AP, Petročnik P, Tuomi J. The importance of physical activity in improving preconception health. Kontakt. 2021;23(4):247-255. doi: 10.32725/kont.2021.051.
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