Endocrine Abstracts

Aims: Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that Indian babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have adverse metabolic profiles. The anthropometric and metabolic profiles in children of women with and without GDM were compared at age 5 years.

Methods: Children born to mothers with GDM (CGDM) and without GDM (WGDM) were included in this prospective study. We examined maternal gestational BMI, GDM, offspring height, weight, BMI, subscapular skinfold (SSF) and triceps skinfold (TSF) thickness, fasting (FBS) and post glucose blood sugar (PPBS), lipid profile and liver function tests at age 5 years.

Results: Maternal BMI was positively associated with adiposity in both groups. The risk of being overweight/obese was increased 3.27-fold if mothers were overweight/obese (95% CI 1.56-416) compared to 4.35-fold (95% CI 2.50-9.88) if mothers additionally had GDM. CGDM had higher measures of SSF and TSF as compared to WGDM(P<0.001). A higher FBS (92 ± 4.6 mg% vs 88 ± 3.22 mg%) but not PPBS was seen in CGDM vs WGDM. HDL was lower (37 ± 2.3 mg% vs 43 ± 1.96 mg%) and triglycerides (133 ± 4.4 mg% vs 127 ± 3.37 mg%) levels were higher in CGDM vs WGDM. There were no differences in the LDL levels. Irrespective of treatment regimens used for GDM there were no differences in anthropometric or metabolic parameters. No significant gender specific differences were found although males had higher SSG, TSF and lower HDL levels as compared to females.

Conclusions: CGDM had higher anthropometric measures - SSF and TSF- and higher fasting glucose, lower HDL and higher triglycerides as compared to WGDM at age of 5 years. These children may be more likely to have adverse metabolic outcomes later in life. Interventions focused on obesity prevention in women and effective management of GDM could help reduce childhood obesity.