Women who work out while they're pregnant have slimmer babies, new research from New Zealand shows.
Women who work out while they're pregnant have slimmer babies, new research from New Zealand shows.
Previous studies have suggested that regular aerobic exercise, through an effect on maternal insulin sensitivity, may influence offspring size by regulating nutrient supply to the fetus. To determine the effects of exercise during pregnancy on maternal insulin sensitivity and neonatal outcomes, researchers in New Zealand randomly assigned 84 women pregnant with their first baby to up to five 40-minute sessions on an exercise bike at home each week or to a no-exercise group, beginning at 20 weeks of pregnancy through delivery.
While there were no differences in the women's body mass index (a measure of weight in relation to height used to gauge whether someone is overweight or obese) or weight, the women who exercised were fitter than those who didn't. The babies born to the exercisers were about 140 grams (5 ounces) lighter than the control groups, although their average length was the same, leading to a lower BMI. This modest shift in weight was still within the normal range, and none of these babies were abnormally small for their age at birth.
The researchers hypothesised that exercise might help maintain the women's sensitivity to the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin, which tends to decline in pregnancy but did not find any difference in insulin sensitivity between the exercisers and the non-exercisers.The lower birth weight of babies and reduced cord concentrations of growth-related peptides suggests an influence of maternal exercise on hormonal regulation of fetal growth.
Previous studies have suggested that regular aerobic exercise, through an effect on maternal insulin sensitivity, may influence offspring size by regulating nutrient supply to the fetus. To determine the effects of exercise during pregnancy on maternal insulin sensitivity and neonatal outcomes, researchers in New Zealand randomly assigned 84 women pregnant with their first baby to up to five 40-minute sessions on an exercise bike at home each week or to a no-exercise group, beginning at 20 weeks of pregnancy through delivery.
While there were no differences in the women's body mass index (a measure of weight in relation to height used to gauge whether someone is overweight or obese) or weight, the women who exercised were fitter than those who didn't. The babies born to the exercisers were about 140 grams (5 ounces) lighter than the control groups, although their average length was the same, leading to a lower BMI. This modest shift in weight was still within the normal range, and none of these babies were abnormally small for their age at birth.
The researchers hypothesised that exercise might help maintain the women's sensitivity to the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin, which tends to decline in pregnancy but did not find any difference in insulin sensitivity between the exercisers and the non-exercisers.The lower birth weight of babies and reduced cord concentrations of growth-related peptides suggests an influence of maternal exercise on hormonal regulation of fetal growth.
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