Paying attention to diet and practicing physical activity in pregnant women suffering from obesity could positively influence the health of women and their children three years after childbirth.
- Children born to obese mothers who improved their lifestyle during pregnancy have a resting heart rate that is 5 beats per minute lower than others.
- Three years later, the mother also has better health and tends to continue food and physical efforts after childbirth.
Physical activity and good nutrition are often signs of good health. They are also important for the long-term health of the child in pregnant women suffering from obesity. The combination of these two factors would result in better health for the child three years after childbirth. This is the result of a British study conducted by researchers at King’s College London and published on September 11 in the journal Pediatric Obesity.
3 years later, the child and the mother are in better health
Improving lifestyle during pregnancy for obese women affects the health of the future baby. The researchers compared a group of obese pregnant women who changed their lifestyle by adopting a diet and practicing physical activity and another control group who did not change their lifestyle. Follow-up examinations three years after birth showed that children born to obese mothers who improved their lifestyle during pregnancy had a resting heart rate 5 beats per minute lower than those who did not. As a reminder, a higher resting heart rate is associated with an increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular dysfunction.
The study also showed that three years after childbirth, mothers continue to lead healthier lifestyles. “This research shows that a lifestyle intervention in pregnant women, focused on improving diet and increasing physical activity, is associated with improved cardiovascular function in offspring. three years of age and an improvement in mothers’ diet three years after the end of the interventionanalysis Kathryn Dalrymple, lead author of the study. These results are very exciting as they add to the evidence that pregnancy is a window of opportunity to promote positive health and lifestyle changes that benefit both mother and child..”
Give the best start in life
Obesity during pregnancy is dangerous for the health of the future baby. “It increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and affect the long-term health of the child. This study strengthens my resolve to emphasize how important it is that we give children a good start in life.”, underlined Lucilla Postillon, author of the study. However, care should be taken and losing too much weight during pregnancy is also not advisable. “Our research focuses on finding new ways to make pregnancy safersays Lizzie d’Angelo, who participated in the study. For these families, it is very reassuring to see that our researchers have been able to sustainably improve the diets of mothers and the heart health of children, helping to give these babies the best start in life..”
The research team will follow these children again, at ages 8 and 10, to see if this improvement in cardiovascular function is maintained during childhood.
.