Effects of early standardized management on the growth trajectory of offspring with gestational diabetes mellitus at 0–5 years old: a preliminary longitudinal study

Abstract

To explore the application value of early standardized management in the delivery of neonates of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Parturient diagnosed with GDM and their offspring were selected in our hospital from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017 to underwent early standardized management. Non-GDM pregnant women and their offspring were selected as the control group. The growth and development of children aged 0–5 years in the two groups were longitudinally followed up, and the mixed linear model was used to evaluate and compare the growth trajectories. There was no significant difference in height and weight between the two groups at 1 year old (P > 0.05), but the BMI of the GDM group was significantly higher than that in the control group. After 1 year of age, both groups of offspring were similar in height, weight, and BMI, and these similarities persisted at 2, 3, 4, and 5 years of age. After controlling for covariates, the weight, length/height of the two groups of children were slightly different in the growth trajectories between 0–1 years old, 1–2 years old, 2–3 years old, 3–4 years old, and 4–5 years old with no statistical significance (P > 0.05). Although growth differences between the two groups of children were detected within 1 year of age, there were no significant differences in growth trajectories from 1 to 5 years between two groups, which proved that early standardized management has positive significance.