Time Magazine: Study: Exercise in Pregnancy Benefits Babies, by Alice Park:
For most pregnant women, exercise is the last thing on theirminds. After all, keeping slim while you’re expecting isn’t exactly thetop priority — rather, it’s making sure your baby gets enough nutrientsto grow. But in a small new study, researchers at the University ofAuckland in New Zealand report that a mother’s regular aerobic exercisemay be good for a growing fetus’ health — and may even help a baby geta healthier start in life.
The finding is a bit surprising, because exercise is known to lowerthe risk of insulin resistance — the precursor condition to diabetes.Although insulin resistance is a detriment in healthy adults, it turnsout to be helpful for proper fetal development. Insulin-resistantindividuals gradually lose their ability to respond to changing glucoselevels in the blood; in pregnant women, the condition, which occurswhen hormones produced by the placenta interfere with the properfunction of insulin in the body, means nutrients get shunted to thegrowing baby. (If the condition gets severe, however, it can result ina temporary condition called gestational diabetes in the mother, whichis associated with heavier babies and a higher risk of obesity inchildhood.) . . . . . .
Added by AH on 4.7.10