2.3. Screening and Assessments
Anxiety, anxiety, weight gain, Psychological distress, high-density lipoprotein, depression, Depression, TG
BLOOD, CLOT
Medical history: before study initiation, the attending gynaecologist obtained a detailed medical history, including gestational age, weight gain during pregnancy, smoking, alcohol consumption, and any potential concomitant medical conditions. Dietary assessment: a semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), validated in the Greek population, was applied [Psychological distress assessment: We applied the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), which comprises 14 self-assessed items, of which seven are related to depression and the other seven to anxiety. Each category is scored in the range of 0–21, and scores higher than “7” indicate possible cases of anxiety or depression, respectively [Anthropometrics: self-reported data on body weight prior to pregnancy were collected. Current body weight (BW) and body fat mass (BFM) percentage were measured at the beginning and at the trial endpoint (3 months) with the method of Air Displacement Plethysmography for research and clinical applications (BOD PODBlood sample collection and analysis: standard blood withdrawal (15mL) from each participant was performed at both baseline and follow-up (3 months later) after overnight fasting. Whole blood samples were allowed to clot at room temperature for 20 min in order to isolate serum. Plasma was isolated by mixing whole blood with edetic acid (EDTA), an anticoagulant. For plasma and serum collection, blood samples were first centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min at 4 °C. Samples were aliquoted and kept at −80 °C until further analysis.Blood analyses: serum glucose, total cholesterol (T-CHOL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triacylglycerols (TG), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were quantified with an automatic biochemical analyser (Cobas 8000 modular analyser, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany).