Lifestyle Interventions in Pregnancy Can Prevent Gestational Diabetes

TUESDAY, Jan. 20, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Lifestyle interventions in pregnancy can prevent gestational diabetes, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in The BMJ.

John Allotey, Ph.D., from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the effects of lifestyle interventions on gestational diabetes using individual participant data (IPD) and network meta-analysis. Data were included from 104 randomized trials, with 35,993 women; IPD were obtained for 68 percent of participants (54 studies with 24,391 women).

The researchers found that lifestyle interventions reduced gestational diabetes defined by any criteria by 10 and by 20 percent in IPD trials and when combining IPD and non-IPD trials, respectively; no reductions were seen using U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence criteria. Lifestyle interventions reduced gestational diabetes defined using International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group criteria by 14 and 18 percent in IPD trials and when combining IPD and non-IPD trials, respectively. No variation in effects was seen by maternal characteristics, except for education; the benefit was less in those with low education. There were no variations in benefits by intervention characteristics, except for greater effectiveness with group format and newly trained facilitators (odds ratios, 0.81 and 0.82, respectively). For preventing diabetes, physical activity-based interventions ranked highest (mean rank, 1.1).

“We were able to identify not just whether lifestyle interventions work, but which elements make them most effective,” Allotey said in a statement. “As gestational diabetes continues to rise globally, this kind of evidence is crucial for designing interventions that work for all women.”

The authors disclosed funding from various educational grants.

Abstract/Full Text