Children's Risk for Type 1 Diabetes Goes Up With Mother's Weight

A large-scale study in Sweden revealed that children born to mothers who are overweight or obese are more likely to develop type 1 diabetes - even when neither parent had diabetes themselves.

The findings suggest that weight-reduction strategies for women before and during pregnancy could reduce the prevalence of type 1 diabetes - a condition that is on the rise in most countries, according to a report on the study.

Additionally, the research found that children with parents who had any type of diabetes were also more likely to develop type 1 diabetes, even without maternal overweight or obesity during pregnancy.

Over 1 million children, born in Sweden between 1992 and 2004, were included in the study.

Genes or environment?

The recent findings shed more light on a complex topic in diabetes research: the question of whether type 1 diabetes risk is more strongly rooted in genetics or environmental factors.

While hereditary factors still seem to carry the most risk, the authors explained, the fact that maternal weight gain increased risk is enough to warrant more focus on weight management - especially for women in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Maternal weight gain in pregnancy has previously been linked to higher rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes in offspring.

"Prevention of overweight and obesity in women of reproductive age - currently increasing in all countries - may contribute to a decreased incidence of type 1 diabetes," the authors wrote.

Source: Science Daily