Exercise During Pregnancy May Save Children From Metabolic Diseases

Mice study reveals that parental obesity can predispose children to metabolic issues.

Research suggests that exercise during pregnancy may substantially decrease their offspring's chances of developing diabetes and other metabolic diseases later in life.

A mice study discovered that maternal exercise during pregnancy prevented the transmission of metabolic diseases from an obese parent (mother or father) to the child.

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Zhen Yan, researcher, states, "Most of the chronic diseases we talk about today are known to have a fetal origin. This is to say that the parents' poor health conditions before and during pregnancy have negative consequences to the child, potentially through chemical modification of the genes."

It is known that exercise during pregnancy leads to healthy babies and decreases pregnancy complications and premature delivery. But Yan wanted to see if the benefits continued throughout the children's lives.

For the study, some mice were fed mouse chow before and during pregnancy, while others were fed a high-fat, high-calorie diet to induce obesity. Some mice with the high-fat diet before pregnancy had access to a voluntary running wheel only during it, while others did not, and they remained sedentary.

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Results revealed that both mothers and fathers in the high-fat group predisposed their offspring to metabolic disorders. Male offspring of sedentary mothers on high-fat diets were more likely to develop high blood sugar and other adulthood metabolic problems.

After looking at the metabolism and epigenetic modification of DNA in the adult offspring, researchers found significant differences in metabolic health and how certain active genes were among the different groups of offspring, suggesting that the negative effects of parental obesity, although different between the father and the mother, last throughout the life of the offspring.

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However, maternal exercise during pregnancy prevented many epigenetic changes in the offspring's genes by completely blocking the negative effects of either mother's or father's obesity on the offspring.

"The take-home message is that it is not too late to start to exercise if a mother finds herself pregnant. Regular exercise will benefit not only the pregnancy and labor but also the health of the baby for the long run," Yan said.

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"This is more exciting evidence that regular exercise is probably the most promising intervention that will help us deter the pandemic of chronic diseases in the aging world, as it can disrupt the vicious cycle of parents-to-child transmission of diseases," he adds.

The researchers believe that the findings will have huge implications for helping pregnant women ensure their children live the healthiest lives possible if they hold in humans.

Source-Eurekalert