Expecting mothers can promote future physical activity in their unborn children’s adult lives by exercising, according to a Baylor College of Medicine study published Thursday in the journal Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Robert Waterland, a BCM professor specializing in both pediatric nutrition and genetics, led the study, which measured the amount of movement exhibited by the mother during pregnancy. Waterland said the research team studies developmental programming, a field of research that studies the influence of genetics and environment on development and an individual’s risk of disease. The team had been trying to “quantify programming of energy balance which leads to obesity” by studying mice.
“It appears that developmental control of obesity, at least in the mouse models, is occurring by a blunting of spontaneous physical activity,” Waterland said. “… My working hypothesis is that physical motion is the key factor that works towards brain development in the fetus of enjoying moment and activity.”
Waterland further explained the reasoning behind the study.
“There’s an idea that input is necessary during the critical period for brain development,” he said. “If a child is born with cataracts or some other form of correctable visual impairment, then unless the impairment is corrected before the critical period is over, then the child may never be able to see normally. Similarly, in our study, fetal movement is the input that promotes physical activity.”
Shaoyu Zhu, a research assistant on the team, commented on the research as well.
“Even though some people are less disposed to exercise during pregnancy, I believe that exercising while pregnant can still have an effect,” Zhu said. “For this reason, our study makes a strong case for the importance of exercising during pregnancy.”
Desiree Mendez-Caltzontzint, a pregnant mother from Edinburg, Texas, said the results of this study are especially relevant.
“As a runner, I was exercising regularly until I found out that I was pregnant,” she said. “I stopped training as hard when I found out that I was pregnant. A lot of people are scared to hurt their babies from over-exertion, but I still try to get exercise by walking or getting outside when I can.”
She said her busy lifestyle, however, makes it hard to find time to exercise.
“Especially with the busy lifestyle of mothers today — working and taking care of the kids — it’s hard to find the time to stay active,” Caltzontzint said.
Waterland said he believes the information gathered from his research might help motivate mothers to exercise, given that it’s also beneficial to their babies. He said his research provides a way to break the worldwide epidemic of sedentary behavior.
“The idea is that during development, pre- and postnatal, this is a very special and critical time during which environmental stimuli such as nutrition and environmental factors can actually change developmental pathways and cause long-term impacts on risks of disease,” Waterland said.
Although this was a study conducted on mice, Waterland said the results of the study are likely applicable to human beings.
“There are a lot of human experiments out there that are consistent with our findings,” he said. “For example, a lot of studies have tried to ask this question in humans, and they always find positive correlations, but these correlations could also be explained by different factors.”
Jesse Eclarinal, another research assistant, expressed her excitement to have worked on such research as a senior at Rice University.
“The results are incredible because it offers a pretty simple solution to help combat the obesity epidemic,” Eclarinal said. “If mothers can work out or walk more often, then it can have a pretty significant impact on their child being more active in their adult life.”
Waterland said the research will have a powerful impact on the future of physical activity.
“Fewer and fewer people are getting sufficient levels of physical activity every day, leading to obesity,” Waterland said. “Since sedentary behavior promotes sedentary behavior in offspring, you can see how this could be a downwards cycle. With our research, we can give mothers a way to break the trans-generational cycle.”
