Walking helps new mothers to reduce their post pregnancy weight easily. Researchers from the Harvard Medical School in Boston followed 900 women for a year after childbirth and found that those who regularly walked were less likely to retain their extra pregnancy weight. The same was true of women who watched TV less often and those who ate less trans fat - artery-clogging fats found in a range of packaged snack foods and commercial baked goods. The study found the benefits of walking, limiting TV and shunning trans fats were cumulative - suggesting that women who do all of these things may get back in pre-pregnancy form more easily. The childbearing years are a time of particular risk for weight gain in women. Modifiable behaviours in that early postpartum period such as diet, television viewing and walking can influence a woman's risk of retaining weight. The study included 902 women who reported on their diet, exercise habits and TV viewing 6 months after giving birth. In general, it was found that women who walked at least 30 minutes a day, watched TV less than 2 hours a day and ate relatively little trans fat were least likely to still have their excess weight one year after giving birth. Compared with women who favoured TV over walking, they were 77 percent less likely to retain 6 kg or more. The findings suggest that busy new mothers need not work out for hours to shed their excess weight. A daily walk, whether on the treadmill or outside, pushing a baby stroller, might be enough.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine,
March 2007