| Activity may keep diabetes at bay
during pregnancy
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who are physically active seem
to lower their odds of developing diabetes when they become pregnant.
That comes from a study by Dr. Jennifer C. Dempsey, of the Swedish
Medical Center in Seattle, and colleagues. They examined recreational
physical activity in the year before and during pregnancy among
909 non-diabetic women without high blood pressure.
According to the team's report in the American Journal of Epidemiology,
women who engaged in any physical activity during the year prior
to their pregnancy had a 56 percent reduced risk of pregnancy-related
diabetes compared with inactive women.
Women who spent at least 4.2 hours per week participating in physical
activity had a 76 percent reduction in risk.
A total of 615 women (67.7 percent) reported participating in physical
activity during pregnancy. These women were 31 percent less likely
to develop gestational diabetes.
The team reports that 576 patients (63.4 percent) reported physical
activity during both the year before and during pregnancy. Compared
with the inactive group, this group had a 69 percent reduced risk,
after taking into account the women's age, race, and pre-pregnancy
body weight.
"Concerns remain about the paucity of empirical evidence regarding
physical activity associated with optimal pregnancy outcomes,"
Dempsey's team notes. "Randomized lifestyle intervention trials
and larger cohort studies are necessary to confirm our findings."
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, April 1, 2004.
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