Several studies dig deeper into the impact of the mother's health during pregnancy on the child's health. In particular, researchers took an interest in looking at the long-term effects of pregnancy health.

Findings are breakthrough knowledge on how mothers have a much more substantial impact on their child's health, even to the point of minimizing risk factors later in life.

Exercise During Pregnancy and Its Impact on Child's Health

Exercising during pregnancy is good for both mom and baby. Exercise reduces the risk of premature delivery and pregnancy complications. But researcher and exercise expert Zhen Yan, Ph.D. at the University of Virginia's School of Medicine, wanted to know whether the benefits of exercise during pregnancy will last throughout the child's life.

The study, published in the "Journal of Applied Physiology" suggested that exercise during pregnancy has huge implications on ensuring children live as healthy lives as possible, the University of Virginia noted.

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Obese Parents' Genes: How to Prevent Parents-to-Child Transmission of Diseases

The researchers wanted to determine the impact of pregnancy exercise on a child's health if either or both parents are obese. Medical experts have already known that most chronic diseases have a fetal origin, potentially through the chemical modification of genes.

The study found that maternal exercise while pregnant is likely to prevent "epigenetic" changes to the child's genes. This is, exercise can negate the adverse impact of parents' obesity, Study Finds reported.

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Pregnancy Exercises Can Reduce Risk of Child Diabetes

To be more specific, the study determined that pregnancy exercise reduces the odds that children will develop metabolic diseases-prematurely or later in life. Diabetes is an example of metabolic disease.

Metabolic disorders happen when some organs like the liver and pancreas do not function normally as it becomes diseased.

Further, metabolic disorders disrupt metabolism or the process of converting food to energy. It can affect the breakdown of carbohydrates, lipids (such as Gaucher's disease), or amino acids (such as in the inherited metabolic disorder is phenylketonuria).

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Cardiovascular Exercise Helps Reduce Risks in Child's Health

Cardiovascular exercise, in particular, is vital to a child's health. A study published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" based on 2,300 mother-child pairs all over the world assessed how cardiovascular risk factors could be passed on to the child.

Initially, it was widely-believed babies start with a "clean slate in terms of cardiovascular health," said Dr. Stephen Daniels, pediatrician-in-chief at Children's Hospital Colorado. He noted that the published study is "really important" and wrote an editorial to accompany the report.

The researchers assessed several factors during pregnancy, including weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. The study suggested that a pregnant woman's heart health may predict a child's health by reaching adolescence, Health Day reported.

One of the researchers, a volunteer expert with the American Heart Association and cardiologist Dr. Nisha Parikh revealed, "mothers' health during pregnancy can impact future generations."

The study found that when children reach ages 10 to 14, they are eight times more likely to have multiple risk factors when their mom had two or more risk factors during pregnancy. Children of mothers who had one cardiovascular risk factor while pregnant had three times higher odds of having the same risk.

Parikh, however, noted that the study is "not to blame mothers." Instead, the study is meant to help women go into pregnancy healthy as possible, knowing their health can have a ripple effect on their children. That ripple effect is even longer-lasting as teenagers with optimal cardiovascular health have fewer strokes and heart attacks years later.