If you have been obese since your childhood, check with your mom if she had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with you. A new study done by a group of Portland researchers suggests that gestational diabetes and childhood obesity is linked and if pregnant women were treated, childhood obesity could be reduced significantly.
The research showed the child’s risk of obesity doubled with untreated gestational diabetes and such kids grew obese by age five to seven. The study analyzed medical records of over 10,000 mother- child pairs in Oregon who gave birth between 1995 and 2000. The women were screened for blood sugar levels and gestational diabetes during their pregnancy and the babies were measured for weight until they aged between five and seven, a period called “adiposity rebound‘, a strong predictor of adult obesity.
They found that children of mothers who were untreated for gestational diabetes were 89% more likely to be obese and 82% more likely to be obese by the time they were 5-7 yr old when compared to children of mothers who had normal blood sugar during their pregnancy.
My advice to pregnant women is three-fold: Discuss gestational diabetes screening with your doctor, usually between weeks 24 and 28 of pregnancy; if you have gestational diabetes, work with your physician to treat it, and stick with the treatment during your pregnancy. It’s the best thing you can do to reduce your child’s risk of obesity.
says Dr. Hillier, the lead author of the study.
What is Gestational diabetes?
According to ABA, Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar (glucose) levels during pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes. When you have gestational diabetes, your pancreas works overtime to produce insulin, but the insulin does not lower your blood glucose levels. The extra blood glucose goes through the placenta, giving the baby high blood glucose levels. This causes the baby’s pancreas to make extra insulin to get rid of the blood glucose. Since the baby is getting more energy than it needs to grow and develop, the extra energy is stored as fat. This can lead to macrosomia, or a “fat” baby.
The good news however, is by treating for gestational diabetes during their pregnancy slims down the chances of women giving birth to obese kids.
