| Training group (n = 72) | Control group (n = 70) | p Value | |
| Maternal age (yrs) at the start of the study (mean (SEM) (95%CI)) | 30.4 (0.3) (29 to 31) | 29.5 (0.4) (28 to 30) | 0.108 |
| BMI (m/kg2) at the start of the study (mean (SEM) (95%CI)) | 24.3 (0.5) (23.3 to 25.3) | 23.4 (0.4) (22.5 to 24.2) | 0.138 |
| Parity: percentage of women with: | |||
| no previous gestation | 72.2% | 57.1% | p = 0.163** (χ2(2) = 3.624) |
| one previous gestation | 22.2% | 35.7% | |
| two previous gestations | 5.6% | 7.1% | |
| Prior preterm delivery (n = 1)* | 2.8% | 4.3% | p = 0.316 (Z = −0.48) |
| Smoking habits (% of smokers) | 22.9% | 28.6% | p = 0.218 (Z = −0.78) |
| Occupational activity (%) | |||
| Sedentary job | 36.1% | 30.0% | p = 0.609** (χ2(2) = 0.991) |
| Housewives | 43.1% | 42.9% | |
| Active job | 20.8% | 27.1% | |
| Percentage of women spending >3 h/day standing | 52.8% | 65.7% | p = 0.0571 (Z = −1.58) |
*There were no women with more than one previous preterm delivery; **analysis of corrected typified residuals was not performed for the χ2 test since p value was >0.05.
95%CI, 95% confidence intervals; BMI, body mass index.