When a father or mother is obese or has type 2 diabetes before or at the time of pregnancy, their children are more likely to develop obesity and type 2 diabetes when the children become adults. Because so many people of child bearing age are currently obese, this is leading to a vicious cycle of obesity and diabetes in the US and throughout the world. We all know that regular exercise is good for us, but could exercise also be used to help moms and dads alleviate this increased risk of disease for their children? In this presentation, I will discuss some of our recent research studies in mice and humans investigating the role that exercise may play in preventing this worldwide health crisis of increased transmission of obesity and type 2 diabetes to subsequent generations.