Body image dissatisfaction has increased among pregnant women, affecting their mental and physical activities. Previous systematic reviews only found significant results existed in cross-sectional design instead of longitudinal designs. This meta-analytic review of cohort studies aimed to report the relationships and moderator variables about body image dissatisfaction and physical activity among pregnant women. We searched for studies in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library until December 2017. Cohort studies that were written in English and reported on the effect size between physical activity and body image dissatisfaction among pregnant women were eligible for inclusion. The authors evaluated the risk of bias in all eligible studies, extracted data, and used a random-effects model to assume the correlation and potential moderator variables. Ultimately, only 4 cohort studies met eligibility criteria. There was a total sample size (n) of 406 pregnant women and 8 individual effect sizes. The pregnant women who exercised a lot had better body image satisfaction (R = 0.151, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.078 to 0.223, z = 4.001, p = 0.000, I2 = 23.052%). The moderator variables were the pregnancy time points and body mass index. The first meta-analysis evaluated the correlations and moderator variables of physical activity and body image dissatisfaction in pregnancy. More and high-quality, randomized clinical trials are needed in future research.
With permission from Excerpta Medica Inc.

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