Obesity during pregnancy is associated with a future risk 3.5 times greater of type 2 diabetes in the child, according to a new research published in 'Diabetology', the magazine of the European Association for the study of diabetes.If the pregnant woman is overweight instead of being obese, the increase in risk is 40%.
Given these data, the authors of the study warn that strategies are urgently required to reduce obesity and overweight in women of reproductive age.
The short -term complications of maternal obesity are well known, including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia;larger babies and a greater probability of cesarean delivery.Now, in addition, there is a growing awareness that there are long -term health problems for babies born to obese mothers;For example, greater risk of premature cardiovascular disease and premature mortality.
Previous studies have indicated a relationship between maternal obesity and diabetes in the offspring, but its reach has been limited.
This research, carried out by Professor Rebecca Reynolds, from the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom) and its colleagues, examined the link between the maternal body mass index (BMI) and the risk that the offspring develop a confirmed clinical diagnosis of diabetesUntil adulthood.
The study linked the birth records of 118,201 children from 1950 to 2011 of the Maternity and Neonatology Data Bank of Aberdeen (AMND), a unique data bank with diverse obstetric information, with data from Scottish Care Information (SCI) -Diabetes,The National Diabetes Registry diagnosed in Scotland.
The analysis adjusted the possible confusion factors, showed that 25 percent of pregnant women were overweight and 10 percent were obese in all the years studied.However, the proportion of obese mothers has multiplied by 5 since the 1950s-1959 (3%) until the years 2000-2011 (16%).
Compared to mothers of normal weight, overweight or obesity during pregnancy was associated with a significantly higher risk of diabetes (type 1 or type 2) in the child, with a risk greater than 26% for overweight mothers and83% for obese mothers.However, when we only observe type 2 diabetes, the risks increase was even greater.
The underlying mechanism for the association between the high maternal BMI and the type 2 diabetes of the children is unknown.A theory is that the obesity in the mother produces an adverse environment in the uterus, with high levels of glucose, insulin and other metabolites that lead to a "programming" of adverse metabolic results for the offspring.
In addition, there are complex neuroendocrine, metabolic and immune/inflammatory changes associated with the obesity in pregnancy that probably affect hormonal exposure and nutrient supply to the fetus.
Epigenetic changes (metabolic changes that activate or deactivate genes) in the intrauterine environment in obese mothers can also cause stress in beta cells of insulin producers in the pancreas of the fetus, which can then lead to an earlier start of diabetes type2 and increase cardiometabolic risk.More research is needed to definitely explain these relationships, the researchers point out.