Babies whose mothers had gestational diabetes have more body fat at two months of age compared to those whose mums were healthy during pregnancy, according to a new study.
In the first study to show that the condition causes such early changes, babies were found to have similar body fat at birth but by two months old those whose mothers had gestational diabetes had 16% more body fat compared to other babies.
Researchers at Imperial College London, UK, used MRI scanning to measure body fat in 86 babies, the majority of whom were breastfed. Readings were taken shortly after birth and again when they were between eight and 12 weeks old.
The study, conducted at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London and published in Diabetes Care, found little difference in the babies’ weight at ten weeks.
However, there were differences in body fat.
Dr Karen Logan, lead author of the study from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, said: “Gestational diabetes is becoming more and more common, and babies born to these mothers are at increased risk of developing diabetes when they grow up. Therefore we need to understand what effects maternal diabetes has on the baby.”
Although a major cause of gestational diabetes is believed to be excess weight, many of the women in the study were not overweight.
“This study suggests that even good treatment during pregnancy may not be enough to prevent longer term problems in the baby,” said Dr Logan.
Professor Neena Modi, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and co-author of the paper, explained: “The importance of this unexpected finding is that the beginnings of obesity are apparent in early infancy in babies born to mothers with diabetes indicating that research targeted at methods to reduce excessive fat deposition in these babies is urgently needed.
“One in five five-year-olds and one in three ten-year-olds in the UK is overweight or obese. These children are at high risk of multiple obesity related conditions. Obesity is the biggest public health threat facing the UK children today.
“This research adds further to the RCPCH long-standing call for obesity research that focuses on prevention in infancy.”
Dr Logan said the next stage of research will analyse the composition of breast milk from mothers with gestational diabetes.
Logan K, Emsley R, Jeffries S et al. Development of Early Adiposity in Infants of Mothers With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care May 2016;39:1–7; doi: 10.2337/dc16-0030
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