Avoiding Gestational Diabetes

Women who exercise regularly before conceiving are less likely to develop diabetes during pregnancy, according to a Harvard study. Brisk walking before pregnancy reduced the risk of gestational diabetes by 24% compared to walking at an easy pace. In contrast, women who watched at least20 hours of TV each week and did not exercise before pregnancy were 2 times as likely as exercisers to develop gestational diabetes. While lifelong physical activity clearly matters, previous studies show that women can also reduce the risk of diabetes by exercising during pregnancy. -Archives of Internal Medicine