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
. 2013 Jun;21(6):1269-75.
doi: 10.1002/oby.20133. Epub 2013 May 13.

Changes in weight and health behaviors after pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus: the CARDIA study

Wendy L Bennett  1 , Su-Hsun Liu, Hsin-Chieh Yeh, Wanda K Nicholson, Erica P Gunderson, Cora E Lewis, Jeanne M Clark
Affiliations

Changes in weight and health behaviors after pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus: the CARDIA study

Wendy L Bennett et al. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: Prepregnancy to postpregnancy change in weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, diet, and physical activity in women with and without gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were compared.

Design and methods: Using the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, women with at least one pregnancy during 20 years of follow-up (n = 1,488 with 3,125 pregnancies) was identified. Linear regression with generalized estimating equations to compare prepregnancy to postpregnancy changes in health behaviors and anthropometric measurements between 137 GDM pregnancies and 1,637 non-GDM pregnancies, adjusted for parity, age at delivery, outcome measure at the prepregnancy exam, race, education, mode of delivery, and interval between delivery and postpregnancy examination were used.

Results: When compared with women without GDM in pregnancy, women with GDM had higher prepregnancy mean weight (158.3 vs. 149.6 lb, P = 0.011) and BMI (26.7 vs. 25.1 kg/m(2) , P = 0.002), but nonsignificantly lower total daily caloric intake and similar levels of physical activity. Both GDM and non-GDM groups had higher average postpartum weight of 7-8 lbs and decreased physical activity on average 1.4 years after pregnancy.

Conclusions: Both groups similarly increased total caloric intake but reduced fast food frequency. Prepregnancy to postpregnancy changes in body weight, BMI, waist circumference, physical activity, and diet did not differ between women with and without GDM in pregnancy. Following pregnancy, women with and without GDM increased caloric intake, BMI, and weight and decreased physical activity, but reduced their frequency of eating fast food. Given these trends, postpartum lifestyle interventions, particularly for women with GDM, are needed to reduce obesity and diabetes risk.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow of CARDIA sample selection of women with ≥1 GDM complicated pregnancies (GDM History) and their associated GDM and non GDM pregnancies
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean pre- to post-pregnancy weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) in GDM and non GDM pregnancies Abbreviations: BMI=body mass index; GDM=gestational diabetes mellitus; WC= waist circumference
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ferrara A. Increasing prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus: a public health perspective. Diabetes Care. 2007;30 (Suppl 2):S141–6. - PubMed
    1. Bellamy L, Casas JP, Hingorani AD, et al. Type 2 diabetes mellitus after gestational diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2009;373:1773–1779. - PubMed
    1. Gunderson EP, Lewis CE, Tsai AL, et al. A 20-year prospective study of childbearing and incidence of diabetes in young women, controlling for glycemia before conception: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Diabetes. 2007;56:2990–2996. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Feig DS, Zinman B, Wang X, et al. Risk of development of diabetes mellitus after diagnosis of gestational diabetes. CMAJ. 2008;179:229–234. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Simmons D. Diabetes during and after pregnancy: screen more, monitor better. CMAJ. 2008;179:215–216. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types