According to Dr. Joel Ray from St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, there is evidence that gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia in pregnancy signal a greater risk of cardiovascular risk later in life. “Action must be taken to offset a sequence of disabling — and preventable — conditions,” Ray told Maclean’s magazine. “So how can this be done? The simplest and most pragmatic answer is to promote lower energy intake and higher energy expenditure, starting at an early age.”

In other words, women should see pre-ecclampsia and gestational diabetes not as just pregnancy complication that end after the birth, but as a wake up call that we are at risk of developing a heart condition.

The Maclean’s article continues:

• Ray says gestational diabetes affects five per cent of pregnant women. Thirty years after a pregnancy with gestational diabetes, women are far more likely to have high waist circumference, high blood pressure and high levels of fat particles called triglycerides in the blood.

Managing that risk means watching your caloric intake and getting regular exercise such as a daily walk.

Post from: Babylune

Inspired by My Name is Mommy and her well-communicated efforts to lead a healthier life, I am pleased to present the Healthy & Fit Family, a blog carnival.

Healthy and Fit Family is a weekly update from bloggers who are working to improve the health and fitness of their entire families. Are you a father who has managed to cut half the fat from spaghetti bolonaise? A mother who taught her kids ten skipping rhymes the old-fashioned way (by jumping along)? A kid who inspired Gramps to get up with everyone else and do the electric slide at a wedding? If so, this is the carnival to share your posts about the experience of leading (or starting to lead) an active life as a family.

Here are a few ground rules:

Since my own health goals have to do with stress and time management, only ten submissions will be posted in each edition of the carnival.

The emphasis of posts should be on living healthier lives as a family. Naturally, we’re interested in weight loss, but not eating disorders. If you’ve been losing weight through dehydration, self-starvation, or self-hatred, or if you’ve been brow-beating your kid into losing weight, you should read the carnival to learn about being healthy and having a healthy attitude, but your submissions won’t be considered.

The deadline for submissions is every Sunday at midnight starting on the 29th of October. Click here to submit.

EDIT: Today is October 30th and you can read the first edition of the carnival here.

Post from: Babylune