Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 May;33(5):1115-21.
doi: 10.2337/dc09-1871.

Risks of overweight and abdominal obesity at age 16 years associated with prenatal exposures to maternal prepregnancy overweight and gestational diabetes mellitus

Jatta Pirkola  1 , Anneli Pouta, Aini Bloigu, Anna-Liisa Hartikainen, Jaana Laitinen, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin, Marja Vääräsmäki
Affiliations

Risks of overweight and abdominal obesity at age 16 years associated with prenatal exposures to maternal prepregnancy overweight and gestational diabetes mellitus

Jatta Pirkola et al. Diabetes Care. 2010 May.

Abstract

Objective: The associations of prenatal exposures to maternal prepregnancy overweight and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with offspring overweight are controversial. Research estimating risk for offspring overweight due to these exposures, separately and concomitantly, is limited.

Research design and methods: Prevalence of overweight and abdominal obesity at age 16 years and odds ratios (ORs) for prenatal exposures to maternal prepregnancy overweight and GDM were estimated in participants of the prospective longitudinal Northern Finland Birth Cohort of 1986 (N = 4,168).

Results: The prevalence and estimates of risk for overweight and abdominal obesity were highest in those exposed to both maternal prepregnancy overweight and GDM (overweight prevalence 40% [OR 4.05], abdominal obesity prevalence 25.7% [3.82]). Even in offspring of mothers with a normal oral glucose tolerance test during pregnancy, maternal prepregnancy overweight is associated with increased risk for these outcomes (overweight prevalence 27.9% [2.56], abdominal obesity prevalence 19.5% [2.60]). In offspring of women with prepregnancy normal weight, the prevalence or risks of the outcomes were not increased by prenatal exposure to GDM. These estimates of risk were adjusted for parental prepregnancy smoking, paternal overweight, and offspring sex and size at birth.

Conclusions: Maternal prepregnancy overweight is an independent risk factor for offspring overweight and abdominal obesity at age 16 years. The risks are highest in offspring with concomitant prenatal exposure to maternal prepregnancy overweight and GDM, whereas the risks associated with GDM are only small.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the NFBC 1986 study population.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence (%) of overweight and abdominal obesity in offspring of the NFBC 1986 at age 16 years. Data assorted according to maternal glucose metabolism in pregnancy and prepregnancy BMI. □, Offspring of normal weight mothers; ■, offspring of overweight mothers. (Note difference in scale on y-axis.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Pedersen J, Osler M: Hyperglycemia as the cause of characteristic features of the foetus and newborn of diabetic mothers. Dan Med Bull 1961; 8: 78– 83 - PubMed
    1. Metzger BE, Buchanan TA, Coustan DR, de Leiva A, Dunger DB, Hadden DR, Hod M, Kitzmiller JL, Kjos SL, Oats JN, Pettitt DJ, Sacks DA, Zoupas C: Summary and recommendations of the Fifth International Workshop-Conference on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care 2007; 30( Suppl. 2): S251– S260 - PubMed
    1. Dabelea D: The predisposition to obesity and diabetes in offspring of diabetic mothers. Diabetes Care 2007; 30( Suppl. 2): S169– S174 - PubMed
    1. Vohr BR, Boney CM: Gestational diabetes: the forerunner for the development of maternal and childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome? Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 2008; 21: 149– 157 - PubMed
    1. Simeoni U, Barker DJ: Offspring of diabetic pregnancy: long-term outcomes. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med 2009; 14: 119– 124 - PubMed

Publication types