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March 21, 2017

Exercise During Pregnancy

Author Affiliations
  • 1Research Institute of Hospital 12 de Octubre (i + 12), Madrid, Spain
  • 2Camilo José Cela University, Madrid, Spain
  • 3Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri
  • 4Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  • 5Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable, Madrid, Spain
JAMA. 2017;317(11):1113-1114. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.0593

Historically, pregnant women were advised to refrain from exercise because of concerns about fetal risk. Simultaneously, they were advised to increase their caloric intake during pregnancy. However (in part because of these misguided recommendations), some of the weight gained during pregnancy was usually retained. Elevated maternal weight is associated with a higher birth weight of offspring and contributes to the intergenerational transmission of obesity.1 Consequently, pregnancy has evolved as a major contributor to the worldwide obesity epidemic and multiple related maternal and fetal comorbidities, some of which have potential lifelong consequences.

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