According
to an article published in the New York Times, “Does
Exercising During Pregnancy Lead to Exercise-Loving Offspring?” scientists
speculate whether a growing baby’s body and its DNA can be changed by the
environment it experiences in the womb before and after birth. Researchers
speculate that after a number of studies identified various snippets of DNA, a
person carrying them predisposes that person to be active, while other gene
variations may result in a person being inactive.
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine andRiced University in Houston crossed two genetically identical females with two genetically
identical males. Half of the mice had a
running wheel and half did not during their pregnancy. The second generation mice were removed from
the first and kept in a cage without a running wheel or visual ability from
their mothers running on the wheel. The results
were that the second generation mice from the active running mice during her pregnancy
were also active. The second generation mice
from the in-active mother was not as active as well.
From these results scientist concludes that
there is a clear implication “that a mother’s activity during pregnancy likely
affects the physical activity of her offspring.”
I found this article to be a bit random,
because there are so many factors that prevents physical activity during a pregnancy. Also, during the first year of youth, a baby
goes through many growth spurts and a significant change during the fourth and
fifth year. How can a child’s future activeness
or inactiveness be dependent on a mother’s pregnancy process? Although, these are studies based on mice
experiments and scientist hope to find a link between mother’s activeness
during pregnancy to her offspring’s future in humans; I don't feel that a mothers physical activeness dictates her child's future activeness.
