Gestational diabetes raises risk of diabetes and weight problems in babies: Study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJan 27 2011

The latest Australian research suggests that women who have diabetes during pregnancy – also known as gestational diabetes, are more likely to have children who will battle diabetes and weight problems through their lives. The research is published in the journal Diabetologia, now online.

For the experiment the scientists developed diabetes in mice during pregnancy. They noted that this led to “fetal programming” of weight and other problems into their offspring. They noted that some brain neuropeptides which control energy balance and body weight in the offspring mice were changed.

Dr Jenny Gunton who completed the work with Dr Sue Mei Lau at Sydney’s Garvan Institute for Medical Research said, “We found that offspring from diabetic mothers spontaneously get fat on a normal diet…They even tend to eat a bit less than normal, but their metabolic rate is much lower so that doesn’t compensate…As the offspring get fatter, their bodies become less able to secrete and use insulin, which shows they are in the first stages of developing diabetes themselves.” Thus the link between a mother’s blood sugar levels during pregnancy and the metabolic characteristics of her offspring in adult life is established.

According to Dr Gunton it was a concerning finding since up to 10 per cent of Australian women develop gestational diabetes. She explained that the optimal weight gain during the pregnancy is around four to 12 kilograms depending on starting weight, but many women put on 20 to 30kg. As such babies born to these mothers are also more likely to require caesarean sections as they are bigger at full term.

Dr Gunton also said, “If we don’t apply the brakes on gestational diabetes soon, we’re going to see a spiralling of its side-effects in coming decades…Those side-effects are escalating levels of obesity and diabetes, as well as more difficult births, caesarean sections and higher risk of sick babies, because diabetes makes the placenta function less well.”

Dr Lau added that this study should set a precedent for improved initiatives to detect and reduce the incidence of gestational diabetes. “The trend in Australia is moving towards universal screening of women in the early third trimester,” she said.