Background

Lack of physical activity and sleep can lead to serious health consequences. One population likely to experience both of these issues is postpartum mothers.

Aim

To compare physical activity and sleep of overweight/obese and normal weight postpartum mothers.

Methods

The study recruited 21 mothers in the first 6 months postpartum, who were classified as normal weight or overweight. Activity and sleep levels were gathered via wrist-worn accelerometers at three intervals between 3–6 months postpartum.

Findings

Overall, there was a significant (P<0.05) increase in physical activity. When separated by body mass index (BMI) classification, the ‘normal weight’ group displayed a significant increase in physical activity, while the ‘overweight/obese’ group did not. Normal-weight participants also had the larger increase in physical activity from visit two to three. All participants significantly decreased in sleep levels from visit two to three.

Conclusions

Discrepancies appeared between the physical activity of overweight/obese and normal-weight mothers. Interventions before and after pregnancy may be key in improving these issues.