Study reveals slower fat gain in babies exposed to gestational diabetes
· News-MedicalBabies born to mothers with GDM had higher levels of body fat at birth, but these infants showed slower fat gain during their first year of life, suggesting a flexibility in early-life growth patterns that earlier studies may have missed.
GDM occurs in approximately 8.3% of pregnancies in the United States, and that number has risen significantly over the past two decades. Mothers with GDM face an increased risk of pregnancy complications and a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes later in life. Infants exposed to Type 2 diabetes are usually born with higher-than-average birth weights, higher percentage of fat (adipose) tissue and higher body mass indexes. Previous studies have found an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and obesity later in life for infants exposed to GDM in utero.
"Surprisingly, GDM-exposed infants were more likely to experience slower body fat gain, but equivalent gain of lean body mass compared with infants of women without GDM, a trend called catch-down growth, which is typically seen in heavier babies who later align with typical growth patterns," said Widen.
Analysis revealed that GDM-exposed babies were significantly more likely to see slow growth of fat mass and body fat percentage and more likely to be in the group with the slowest growth of BMI or even decreasing BMI.
"Previous studies have not really looked at this critical first year of life with the kind of sensitive body fat measures we were able to use," said Rachel Rickman, lead author of the study and former doctoral student of Widen. "The data here is really quite striking, and it raises a lot of questions."
Marcela R. Abrego and Saralyn F. Foster of UT Austin, Amy R. Nichols of University of California, Davis and Charlotte E. Lane of Food Security Evidence Brokerage were also authors on the paper. The research was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the General Clinical Research Center.
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