High blood sugar levels during pregnancy are associated with obesity in 10-14 year olds, according to a new study. Even up to 20 percent of pregnant women develop pregnancy diabetes, but there has been no information on how long the disease affects children in the long run - medicalxpress.com wrote.
The first study of its kind analyzed the long-term consequences of high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
It has been found that in children of women who have had diabetes mellitus, they are more likely to develop pre-diabetes at the age of 10-14 - diabetes pre-diabetes, insulin resistance - and more often than their peers whose mothers were not diabetic - wrote Northwestern Medicine hospital researchers.
It has already been known that maternal obesity or genetic predisposition to diabetes increases the risk of obesity and diabetes in the child.
"Our study has shown that high blood glucose levels during pregnancy further increase the risk of child obesity and prediabetes, regardless of maternal weight and genetic predisposition," the researchers wrote in a recent issue of Diabetes Care.
The so-called gestational diabetes during pregnancy is a disease in which a non-diabetic woman is thriving high blood sugar. It increases the risk of pregnancy toxemia, depression, cesarean section and fetal death.
"Knowledge of long-term consequences further emphasizes the importance of recognizing and treating gestational diabetes. We know that treatment reduces the chances of neonatal complications, but not whether the child's age-old risks are reduced," the researchers wrote.
(Source: marmalade.co.uk | Image: pixabay.com)