Maternal Diabetes during Pregnancy and Early Childhood Obesity—A Population-Level Analysis

Abstract

We examined the association between maternal diabetes status (preexisting diabetes mellitus (pre-DM), gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and no DM) during pregnancy and overweight or obesity status of the offspring in early childhood (4-6 years). Immunization records, containing height and weight at the time of preschool vaccination for children born between Jan 2005-Aug 2013 in Alberta, Canada were linked with the following: 1) maternal hospitalization and outpatient records prior to delivery; and 2) registry data containing birth weight, parity, and gestational age. World Health Organization (WHO) criteria were used to categorize children as overweight or obese. Our cohort had 91,382 live births from 68,457 mothers. Rates of pre-DM, GDM and no-DM were 0.8%, 6.2%, and 93.0%, respectively (Table). Childhood overweight/obesity rates were significantly higher among women with pre-DM or GDM, than with no-DM. After adjustment, both GDM and pre-DM were associated with a higher likelihood of having an overweight/obese child. Breast feeding data were available for 63,374 children. A higher proportion of GDM and pre-DM babies were not breast fed, which was also associated with a higher risk of childhood obesity. The impact of maternal diabetes on offspring weight continues beyond birth to early childhood. This association may be further exacerbated by breast feeding challenges in women with diabetes. Disclosure S.L. Bowker: None. A. Savu: None. R.O. Yeung: Consultant; Self; Sanofi. Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca. Consultant; Self; Novo Nordisk Inc.. E.A. Ryan: None. P. Kaul: None.