Early Pregnancy Weight Gain Predicts Gestational Diabetes



Gestational diabetes and excessive gestational weight gain have significant implications for the health of both mother and child.

Anne-Sophie Morisset and colleagues from Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, now examined the relationship between weight gain early in pregnancy and the risk for gestational diabetes, in a paper just published in the Journal of Womens Health.

The researchers examined data from medical records of women who delivered between January and December 2007 at the Laval University Medical Centre, which included 294 women (55 cases of gestational diabetes and 239 controls).

Weight gain in the first trimester was significantly higher in patients who developed gestational diabetes than in controls (3.4 vs. 1.9  kg), whereas whereas weight gain in the third trimester was significantly lower in diabetes patients compared to controls (4.1 vs. 6.3 kg).

Both prepregnancy BMI and first trimester weight gain were significant and independent predictors of diabetes suggesting that both preconception weight as well as weight gain during the first trimester may warrant greater clinical attention.

This is particularly important given the discussions and concerns about the fetal development theory of epigenetic program, which many today believe to be one of the key drivers of childhood obesity.

AMS
Edmonton, Alberta

Morisset AS, Tchernof A, Dubé MC, Veillette J, Weisnagel SJ, & Robitaille J (2011). Weight Gain Measures in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Journal of women’s health (2002) PMID: 21332414