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Obese Pregnant Women to Control Calorie Intake and Maintain Active Lifestyle

by Hannah Punitha on Mar 12 2008 7:09 PM

In order to fight hypertension and diabetes, overweight pregnant women need to control their calorie intake and maintain a physically active lifestyle says an expert.

Dr Raul Artal, an internationally recognized obesity expert and chairman of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health at Saint Louis University, said there is a need to revise the present recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy provided by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1990.

In an editorial he said that the recommendations encourage obese women to gain at least 15 pounds during pregnancy and specify no upper limit for weight gain.

“Pregnancy has become over the years a state of indulgence and confinement,” he said.

 “Pregnancy is an ideal time for behaviour modification that includes physical activity and with proper medical supervision it can be safely prescribed,” he added.

He also said that the IOM guidelines primarily focused on preventing low birth-weight deliveries, which generally occur when women who are underweight and of normal weight don’t gain enough weight during pregnancy.

 “Obese women should not be precluded from engaging in physical activities. Obese pregnant women who engage in physical activities during their pregnancies reduce their risk of developing gestational diabetes by 50 percent,” he added.

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It is necessary for them to limit the amount of weight they gain during pregnancy by eating only enough to provide adequate calories and nourishment for their growing babies.

He insisted that overweight pregnant women should to exercise and change their eating habits that would trickle-down the effect on the health of the entire family as everyone is likely to eat healthier.

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The editorial appears in the March issue of Expert Review of Obstetrics and Gynecology, an international medical journal.

Contrary to common perception a new study at the University of North Carolina has shown that the first-laid eggs are in fact least likely to hatch at all.

Contrary to a common perception that baby birds that are laid before their siblings have a better chance of survival, a new study at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has shown that the first-laid eggs are in fact least likely to hatch at all.

Keith Sockman, an assistant biology professor in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences along with his team studied the Lincoln’s sparrows in a remote stretch of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains for three breeding seasons.

“I believe this is the first study to follow siblings from laying through fledging and demonstrate that the effect of laying order on hatching is very different from its effect post-hatching,” said Sockman.

During the study the team observed that female Lincoln’s sparrows lay one egg per day, usually producing three to five eggs in total.

Mothers do not settle down and start incubating the eggs right away, since they still have other concerns during the laying cycle, such as scavenging for food.

Sockman deems that this leads to lower likelihood of the first-laid eggs to hatch at all, though it helps to ensure that overall, a greater number of reasonably healthy, strong and feisty chicks hatch and go on to develop into young birds.

 “At these elevations, conditions can be fairly harsh even during the summer when Lincoln's sparrows breed,” said Sockman.

 “It’s often freezing at night, which is hard on an un-incubated egg, while daytime temperatures are

“As a result, since the mother sparrow isn’t keeping them at the most optimal incubating temperature from day one, first-laid eggs can be exposed to environmental conditions that lower the chance those embryos will ever see the world outside their shell,” he added.

It is a known fact that youngest hatchlings often die, as they’re too small to compete against their feistier siblings for the limited resources provided by their parents.

 “The severely competitive environment in the nest may have consequences on the individual's ability to compete for resources and mates the following year when it is reproductively mature,” said Sockman.



Source-ANI
SPH/M


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