Obese women who exercise while pregnant cut risk of having a fat baby

IF YOU are overweight and pregnant, moderate exercise might cut the risk your baby will be born fat and develop Type 2 diabetes later in life.

Are you putting your baby at risk?

IF YOU are obese and pregnant, moderate exercise might cut the risk your baby will be born fat and develop Type 2 diabetes later in life.

A study in rats has found mothers who exercised moderately while pregnant reduced their offspring’s weight, insulin and blood glucose levels.

However, male baby rats were more likely to benefit from their mothers exercise than female babies, the study by a University of NSW team led by Professor Margaret Morris has found.

Keeping healthy ... it is important to exercise while pregnant.

The study, published In PLOS medicine, saw female rats fed a high-fat diet including pies, cakes, dim sims and biscuits for six weeks before mating and throughout pregnancy and the lactation period.

Half the rats undertook voluntary exercise in an exercise wheel in their cage from 10 days before mating and throughout the pregnancy while the others remained sedentary.

Babies born to the rats who exercised had smaller fat deposits around the abdomen and improved insulin and glucose metabolism.

Stay active ... obese women who exercise while pregnant reduce their risk of having an overweight baby.

“The effects were sex-specific, with males appearing to benefit more from maternal exercise than females,” the study found.

The authors can’t yet explain why males seemed to benefit from the exercise describing it as a “mystery”.

Professor Morris has a strong interest in looking at how we can improve the outcomes for pregnant women where the mother is obese.

Connected ... studies have found a link between a pregnant mother’s weight and health outcomes for her baby. Picture Thinkstock

Many rodent studies have found what a mothers weight before and during pregnancy can affect her child’s weight and health outcomes.

A recent Adelaide University study found obesity damages mice eggs and the mitochondria responsible for energy regulation and metabolism.

The foetuses from the eggs of obese mothers led to heavier than normal babies.

However, this obesity risk can be reversed and the fertility of obese women improved by a new drug being tested for use in diabetes, the study found.

Half of Australia’s pregnant women are overweight or obese, making them more likely to have large babies weighing more than 4kg who will grow up to have weight problems.

Growing problem ... half of Australia’s pregnant women are overweight or obese. Picture supplied.

The first three years of a child’s life is crucial in determining whether they will develop eating habits that lead to obesity.

Ethical concerns prevent researchers conducting experiments on pregnant women so the exercise study had to be done on rats and the results may not translate to humans.

However, Professor Morris says “the findings are a useful addition to the existing body of evidence that points to the importance of both diet and exercise for pregnant women to ensure the future health of their baby”.

She warned that pregnant women should avoid heavy exercise while pregnant with some studies showing it could divert blood away from the foetus.

Originally published as Obese women who exercise while pregnant cut risk of having a fat baby