As a ensue of a number of late stu...

As a ensue of a number of late studies on exercise in pregnancy, the debate across the risks of aerobic exercise in pregnancy has waned. In January 2002 the American community of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued an opinion report stating that "In the absence of either medical or obstetric complications, 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise a day in succession most, if not all, days of the week is attract favor toed for most pregnant women." (1) While everyday sense and a number of smaller observational studies and controll trials support this recommendation, a Cochrane review, (2) published in the same month as the ACOG opinion, conclud that there is insufficient evidence of benefit or harm to mother or fetus to make a recommendation regarding aerobic exercise in pregnancy. According to the review, the available studies were too small, flawed in their design, and inconsistent in their methodology and consequence measures to support a recommendation. Specific benefits of regular exercise to mother and fetus have besides to be confirmed.

The fresh ACOG Committee Opinion signals a welcome interest in the benefits of regular aerobic exercise in pregnancy and a direction away from focusing on a variety of theoretic risks to mother and baby. In space of times of positive benefits, the Cochrane reviewer base that women who exercised regularly during pregnancy subjectively improved their material substance image and maintained or improved their physical fitness. No other benefits (or risks) were supported by the agency of the currently available studies. Parameters studied include accident of delivery, length of labor, extension parameters, preterm birth, and Apgar scores.

Despite the limitations of present evidence, several studies suggest that smaller babies are born to women who exercise vigorously during pregnancy, as a come of restriction of neonatal fat mass. It also has been give an inkling ofed that these leaner babies may be les likely to become obese children and adults. (3) At the extremely least, pregnancy is a time when women have regular contact with physicians and may be spread to general lifestyle changes that might benefit them. Exces weight gain during pregnancy and postpartum weight retention are associated with increased rates of maternal obesity eight to 10 years later. (4)

Given the instant epidemic of obesity and the associated rising incidence in rates of the metabolic syndrome and emblem II diabetes, it would strike one as being that well-designed, large-scale prospective clinical trials of exercise in pregnancy should be high upon the national research agenda, in line with priorities established on Healthy People 2010. Long-term follow-up of the exercising women and their infants could help to clarify the real benefits versus the risks of exercise during pregnancy and allow coming recommendations to be based upon evidence rather than expert opinion.

For many women the perceived benefits of physical fitness and enhanced corpse image provide enough reason to continue to exercise during pregnancy. However, little has been published about the acceptability of exercise in pregnancy to women of diverse cultural backgrounds. Given the high prevalence of obesity and overweight among women in one population subgroups, (5) it equal may be desirable to provide extra encouragement to exercise during pregnancy, as well as in general. However, prosperous implementation of the recent ACOG recommendations will require that women find the idea of exercising during pregnancy to be culturally acceptable. Therefore, understanding the attitude of women from diverse backgrounds toward exercise in pregnancy is important.

Given ACOG's statement that potential risks are rare in in a strict sense screened pregnant women who avoid outermost environmental conditions and activities that can lead to abdominal trauma, moderate aerobic exercise appears to be a safe, affordable way to improve a woman's reason of well-being during pregnancy. The shift in attitude away from viewing aerobic exercise as a potential hazard to healthy pregnant women is a breath of new air. We look forward to the day when good evidence supports more definitive guidelines about exercise in pregnancy.

REFERENCES

(1) ACOG Committee Obstetric Practice. ACOG Committee Opinion, No. 267 January 2002: exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Obstet Gynecol 2002;99:171-3

(2) Kramer M Aerobic exercise for women during pregnancy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2004;(1): CD000180

(3) Magann EF Evans SF Weitz B Newnham J Antepartum, intrapartum, and neonatal significance of exercise forward healthy low-risk pregnant working women Obstet Gynecol 2002;99:466-72

(4) Rooney BL Schauberger CW Exces pregnancy weight gain and lengthy term obesity: one decade later. Obstet Gynecol 2002;100:245-52

(5) The surgeon general's call to action to preclude and decrease overweight and obesity. 2001 U Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General. Rockville, Md Accessed online February 6 2004 at: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/ calltoaction/CalltoAction.pdf.