Preventing excessive weight gain during pregnancy through dietary and lifestyle counseling: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To estimate whether an organized, consistent program of dietary and lifestyle counseling prevents excessive weight gain in pregnancy.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial assigned women to receive either an organized, consistent program of intensive dietary and lifestyle counseling or routine prenatal care. The primary study outcome was the proportion of patients whose gestational weight gain was within the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines.