According to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism of the Endocrine Society, children of women with gestational diabetes and obesity may be twice as likely to develop attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared to those whose mothers did not have obesity.
According to data from 2016 to 2019, approximately 6 million children aged 3 to 17 have received an ADHD diagnosis. Maternal obesity is a significant risk factor for ADHD in children. At their first prenatal appointment, about 30% of pregnant women are obese, and this percentage rises to 47% in those who have gestational diabetes. Children in this group are more likely to have ADHD if their mothers gain a lot of weight during pregnancy.
According to Verónica Perea, M.D., Ph.D., of the Hospital Universitari MutuaTerrassa in Barcelona, Spain, “Our study found pregnant women with obesity and gestational diabetes had children with long-term mental health disorders like ADHD.” “When these women gained a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy, we did not find this association.”
The study involved 1 in 336 kids born to pregnant women with gestational diabetes. Of these youngsters, 13% had an ADHD diagnosis. The researchers discovered that children of obese mothers were twice as likely to have ADHD as those born to mothers without obesity.
The association was only discovered by the researchers in pregnant women who had gestational diabetes, were obese, or had gained a lot of weight. The researchers did not notice an increased risk of ADHD in the offspring of obese or gestationally diabetic women if the amount of weight gained during pregnancy by these women was within the normal range.
According to Perea, the importance of healthy weight gain during pregnancy should be stressed to patients by clinicians.
Xavier Urquizu, Eva López, Maria-José Barahona, Andreu Simó-Servat, Carmen Quirós, Nuria Alonso-Carril, Maite Valverde, Maria-José Barahona, and Maria-José Barahona of the Hospital Universitari Mtua de Terrassa, as well as Antonio J. Amor of the Hospital
The Fundació Docència I Recerca Mtua Terrassa provided financial support for the study.
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