Acute Effects of Endurance Exercise on Breast Milk Composition in Women With Overweight/Obesity (YT)

Acute Effects of Endurance Exercise With Moderate and High Intensity on Breast Milk Composition Among Women With Overweight/Obesity

The investigators will determine the acute effect of exercise on breastmilk composition. Participants will come in to the lab on three different days, out of which they will exercise on two of these days and rest in the lab on the third day. The conditions will be randomly allocated to each participant. Breastmilk samples will be obtained in the morning of each test day, as well as immediately after, one hour after and four hours after the exercise/rest condition. Dietary intake will be standardized on the test days.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Overweight and Obesity; Breast Milk Collection
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Moderate intensity exercise; Behavioral: High intensity exercise

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 32
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Norway
  • Trondheim, Norway, 7491
    • Department of circulation and medical imaging , NTNU

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 6 weeks postpartum
• Exclusively breastfeeding
• Term birth
• Singleton baby

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known cardiovascular disease
• Known type 1 or type 2 diabetes
• Limited ability to exercise

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control; Resting in seated position
Experimental: Moderate intensity exercise; Moderate intensity endurance exercise, treadmill walking/running at 70% of heart rate maximum for 40 minutes	Behavioral: Moderate intensity exercise; Treadmill walking/running with moderate intensity
Experimental: High intensity exercise; High intensity interval training: treadmill walking/running. 10 minutes warm-up at 70% of heart rate maximum, followed by four 4-minutes bouts at 90-95% of heart rate maximum, separated by 3-minutes active recovery (at 70% of heart rate maximum)	Behavioral: High intensity exercise; Treadmill walking/running with high intensity

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Breastmilk metabolite composition	Global metabolomics profiling using MS/MS technology	Change from before exercise to after exercise (+0 hour, +1 hour, and +4 hours)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Complex lipids composition	Global metabolomics profiling using MS/MS technology	Change from before exercise to after exercise (+0 hour, +1 hour, and +4 hours)
Adiponectin	Concentration	Change from before exercise to after exercise (+0 hour, +1 hour, and +4 hours)
Leptin	Concentration	Change from before exercise to after exercise (+0 hour, +1 hour, and +4 hours)
Insulin Growth Factor-1	Concentration	Change from before exercise to after exercise (+0 hour, +1 hour, and +4 hours)
Insulin	Concentration	Change from before exercise to after exercise (+0 hour, +1 hour, and +4 hours)
Ghrelin	Concentration	Change from before exercise to after exercise (+0 hour, +1 hour, and +4 hours)
Cytokine profiling (Multiplex 27)	Concentration	Change from before exercise to after exercise (+0 hour, +1 hour, and +4 hours)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cardiorespiratory fitness	Peak oxygen uptake	At baseline
Body mass in kg	Impedance scale	At baseline
Fat mass in kg	Impedance scale	At baseline
Muscle mass in kg	Impedance scale	At baseline
Height in metres	Stadiometer	At baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• Collaborators: St. Olavs Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 20, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): May 20, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 8, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 23, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): February 27, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 26, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 25, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Exercise
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nutrition Disorders; Overnutrition; Body Weight; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Feeding Behavior; Breast Feeding; Overweight; Obesity; Motor Activity; Breast Milk Expression; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Physical Conditioning, Human; Exercise; High-Intensity Interval Training
• Other Study ID Numbers: 562012

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No