Influence of Prenatal Exercise on Fetal/Infant Health

Over 30% of children, as young as 6 years, are overweight or obese with increased risk factors of heart disease. Excess adipose, especially abdominal, is associated with increased risk of heart disease.Research has shown an association between obesity, cardiovascular disease, and autonomic imbalance. It has been suggested that a major focus of disease prevention should target the prenatal period, since this is a critical time of organ development. Our previous studies found prenatal exercise is associated with improved fetal, infant, and child heart health and autonomic control. Though these results are promising, exercise was self-reported and subject to bias. Therefore we conducted a preliminary exercise intervention study with the goal to test the hypothesis that prenatal exercise intervention will improve fetal and infant measures of heart rate (HR), obesity, and nervous system development. Participants either exercised (5+45 min,3X per wk,16-36 wks pregnant) or did not. Statistical analyses included ...