E-Mail IMAGE: Exercise expert Zhen Yan, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, stands in a door decorated with numbers from races his lab members have participated in. view more Credit: Dan Addison | UVA Communications Exercise during pregnancy may let mothers significantly reduce their children's chances of developing diabetes and other metabolic diseases later in life, new research suggests. A study in lab mice has found that maternal exercise during pregnancy prevented the transmission of metabolic diseases from an obese parent - either mother or father - to child. If the finding holds true in humans, it will have "huge implications" for helping pregnant women ensure their children live the healthiest lives possible, the researchers report in a new scientific paper.