Further Connection Between Diabetes And Overweight Pregnancy

Another study has provided further proof to the connection between overweight pregnancies and the increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

This latest proof is based on a study conducted by scientists in the United States. It shows that women who are overweight in their pregnancies significantly increase their risk of also developing type 2 diabetes. This means more possible health complications for them, as well as their baby.

The results of the study have been published in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine.

Loralei Thornburg, the senior author of the study, voiced her concern over the results.

“We've never seen the degree of obesity and type 2 diabetes in women that we are seeing right now, because for a very long time diabetes was a disease of an older population, so we rarely dealt with it in prenatal care,” said Thornburg.

The study used a combination of information derived from inpatient records, as well as a birth certificate database to pair both diabetic and non-diabetic women. Births had to take place between 2000 and 2008. Once scientists found their subjects, they checked specific data, including their body mass index (BMI).

What researchers found was that a large majority of the subjects were either overweight, obese or morbidly obese.

What researchers wanted to know was if the obesity caused the increased risk when both conditions were present or if it were due to the diabetes alone.

“We hope this new knowledge will help physicians better understand and care for this rapidly expanding group of high-risk women,” added Thornburg.