Pregnant Runners = Child Runners?

Exercise trends come and go like trains at Grand Central Station, but running seems to be a constant favorite for many. There have been many studies done on the health benefits of running, but there has never been a study that correlates mother runners having produced offspring runners, until now.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University of Houston have conducted a study with pregnant mice and their offspring. The study consisted of a group of pregnant mice being able to run on their wheel freely while the other group of pregnant mice had their running wheel locked. Once the offspring were born and weaned, they were placed in separate cages from their mothers. The offspring were closely monitored throughout their lives. During their childhood there were not much differences until they hit adolescence. At that point in their lives those born to mothers that ran started to become runners themselves. As the mice got older they became more and more enthusiastic about running.

The researchers have concluded from the results that the mother’s physical activity during pregnancy had a likely affect of the offspring having the want for the physical activity. Though they have made this correlation through research with mice, it is not clear if humans would have the same affects. It is also not clear as to how having a mother run while pregnant is affecting the offspring to become a runner.

Though there are many un-answered questions due to the immaturity of the research, it is an interesting concept. Once the researches figure out if the same affect on mice happens with humans, they would next have to figure out how it is actually happening.