The new study done by the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Kuopio University Hospital (KUH) and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reveals that a mothers’ activity level during pregnancy can significantly affect the child’s likelihood of developing asthma – as it can be cut by nearly half if the mother exercises vigorously at least three times a week during her pregnancy.
The authors used information from 994 mother-child dyads in the Kuopio Birth Cohort study, KuBiCo, monitored from the prenatal period to the child’s 7 years.
It is a known fact that pregnant mothers who engage in some form of exercise have a lot of benefits in both personal and child health.
Newborn lung function has also improved by Maternal exercise during pregnancy as seen in another study.
‘This is the first time we are observing a link between maternal exercise and the development of asthma in the child,’ noted Doctoral Researcher Emma-Reetta Musakka, BM, MSc from the University of Eastern Finland.
Various health, lifestyle factors and the environment that concern maternal exercise and the risk of asthma in the child are interrelated as well, including maternal weight, stress, illness, family exercise, nutrition and, for example, the ownership of a dog.
A number of other such factors and the present study, published in Med, stated that the present study had considered many such factors responsible for the observed bias and yet they did not provide a reason how maternal exercise reduced the risk of asthma in the child.
‘Our results indicate that exercise during pregnancy has a beneficial impact independent of the mode on the foetus and health of the child in later life,’ Musakka stated.
Another interesting association is that maternal exercise influences foetal activity and especially foetal breathing movements leading to lung maturation.
As to why maternal exercise presents itself with a low risk of asthma in the child, Musakka said this is unknown, but possibly, it fosters foetal lung development.
The WHO has it that pregnant women should perform about 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
The results thus obtained appear to be very encouraging with regards to asthma prevention. It is inspiring to learn that by increasing their physical activity to moderate levels, mothers’ health and that of the child is improved,” Kirjavainen added.
Reference: Eastern. Maternal exercise during pregnancy may protect child against asthma
