Being too thin at 20 linked to gestational diabetes risk

Having a low body mass index (BMI) at the age of 20 years may be a risk factor for developing gestational diabetes, report Japanese researchers.

Furthermore, the risk seems to remain even if women have reached a normal BMI by the time they are in the early stages of pregnancy, say Hirohito Sone (University of Tsukuba Institute of Clinical Medicine, Ibaraki, Japan) and team.

"East Asian young women, especially Japanese, strongly desire to be thin despite having a lower BMI than in many other ethnic groups," say the researchers. "This has become a major health issue among East Asian women of childbearing age."

As reported in Diabetic Medicine, the team investigated the association between risk for gestational diabetes and BMI at age 20 years as well as change in BMI since then, in 624 women with a mean gestation of 8.0 weeks at their first antenatal visit.

The women, aged a mean of 33.4 years, self-reported what they weighed at age 20 years and had their current height and weight measured.

The researchers report that 28 (4.5%) women developed gestational diabetes at 24-29 weeks' gestation, defined as a glucose challenge test of 7.8 mmol/L or more.

There was a significant inverse association between BMI at age 20 years and the incidence of gestational diabetes.

Compared with women who had a BMI of at least 18 kg/m2 at age 20 years, women with a BMI of less than 18 kg/m2 had a 4.9-fold higher risk for developing the condition.

Women whose BMI increased the most since age 20 years, by 1.85 kg/m2 or more, had a 2.4-fold greater risk for gestational diabetes than those whose BMI increased by less than this.

However, women who had a BMI of less than 18 kg/m2 at 20 years of age still had a 6.3-fold greater risk than both the women with a higher BMI at age 20 years and those with a baseline change in BMI of up to 1.84 BMI units since age 20 years.

"Our results suggest that physiological conditions caused by nutritional deficiencies in early adulthood have later metabolic implications, which may eventually manifest as gestational diabetes," warns the team.

"A large, prospective multi-center study is needed to better evaluate the association of underweight in early adulthood and gestational diabetes."

Licensed from medwireNews with permission from Springer Healthcare Ltd. ©Springer Healthcare Ltd. All rights reserved. Neither of these parties endorse or recommend any commercial products, services, or equipment.

Sally Robertson

Written by

Sally Robertson

Sally first developed an interest in medical communications when she took on the role of Journal Development Editor for BioMed Central (BMC), after having graduated with a degree in biomedical science from Greenwich University.

Citations

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

  • APA

    Robertson, Sally. (2018, August 23). Being too thin at 20 linked to gestational diabetes risk. News-Medical. Retrieved on October 10, 2024 from https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120601/Being-too-thin-at-20-linked-to-gestational-diabetes-risk.aspx.

  • MLA

    Robertson, Sally. "Being too thin at 20 linked to gestational diabetes risk". News-Medical. 10 October 2024. <https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120601/Being-too-thin-at-20-linked-to-gestational-diabetes-risk.aspx>.

  • Chicago

    Robertson, Sally. "Being too thin at 20 linked to gestational diabetes risk". News-Medical. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120601/Being-too-thin-at-20-linked-to-gestational-diabetes-risk.aspx. (accessed October 10, 2024).

  • Harvard

    Robertson, Sally. 2018. Being too thin at 20 linked to gestational diabetes risk. News-Medical, viewed 10 October 2024, https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120601/Being-too-thin-at-20-linked-to-gestational-diabetes-risk.aspx.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
Green spaces reduce the deadly impact of air pollution on people with type 2 diabetes