Slimming before
pregnancy ensures healthier births
Even
if obese women eat healthy during pregnancy, their babies may suffer future
health problems. So it is advisable to lose body weight before going in for
pregnancy, says a news study.
"We
can see fat sequestered in the placentas of obese mothers when it should be
going to the baby to support its growth. The nutrient supply region in the
placenta of an obese mother is half the size of that of a normal-weight mother,
even when both are eating the same healthy diet," said Yuan-Xiang Pan,
epigeneticist and professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois.
Pan,
who co-authored the study with Rita Strakovsky, blames what he calls the
'obesogenic' environment of the mother, which includes increased triglycerides,
high levels of the hormone leptin and elevated amounts of non-esterified fatty
acids (NEFAs) circulating in the obese expectant mother's body, the journal
Biology of Reproduction reports.
Triglycerides
are the primary fat in our bodies, the main constituent in our energy system.
Leptin may play an important role in obesity-related cardiovascular disease
while NEFAs are found in animal and vegetable fats and oils.
Triglyceride
and NEFA levels are nearly twice as high in obese mothers, even when they
consume healthy diets during pregnancy. "My advice is, lose weight well
before you become pregnant," Pan said, according to an Illinois statement.
Pan
compared the placentas of obese rats fed a healthy diet throughout their
pregnancies with the placentas of obesity-resistant rats fed the same diet.
Obese
mothers gave birth to babies that were up to 17 percent smaller than they
should have been. The consequences for those infants may be lifelong, making
them more susceptible to disease, he noted.
Walking may help treat depression
Taking a brisk walk
could play an important role in fighting depression, according to researchers
in Scotland.
Vigorous exercise has
already been shown to lessen symptoms of depression, but the effect of less
strenuous activities was unclear. A study in the journal Mental Health and
Physical Activity showed walking had a “large effect” on depression. One
in 10 people may suffer from depression at some point in their lives.
The condition can be
treated with drugs, but doctors, for mild symptoms commonly prescribe exercise.
Researchers at the University of Stirling scoured academic studies to find data
on one of the mildest forms of exercise - walking.
They found eight
studies, on a total of 341 patients, which fitted the bill. The report’s
authors showed “walking was an effective intervention for depression” and had
an effect similar to other more vigorous forms of exercise.
“Walking has the
advantages of being easily undertaken by most people, incurring little or no
financial cost and being relatively easy to incorporate into daily living,” the
BBC quoted the authors as saying. However, they cautioned that much
more research needed to be done. There are still questions over how long, how
fast and whether walking should take place indoor or outdoors.
Prof Adrian Taylor, who
studies the effects of exercise on depression, addiction and stress at the
University of Exeter, told the BBC.
“The beauty of walking
is that everybody does it,” Prof Adrian Taylor, who studies the effects of
exercise on depression, addiction and stress at the University of Exeter, said.
“There are benefits for
a mental-health condition like depression,” he said.
How any form of
exercise helps with depression is unclear. Prof Taylor said there were ideas
about exercise being a distraction from worries, giving a sense of control and
releasing “feel-good” hormones. The mental-health charity ‘Mind’ said its own
research found that spending time outdoors helped people’s mental health.
“To get the most from
outdoor activities it’s important to find a type of exercise you love and can
stick at. Try different things, be it walking, cycling, gardening or even
open-water swimming,” Paul Farmer, chief executive of ‘Mind’, said.
“Exercising with others
can have even greater impact, as it provides an opportunity to strengthen
social networks, talk through problems with others or simply laugh and enjoy a
break from family and work. So ask a friend to join you,” he added.
Be thankful
for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement
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