Children face increased risks of being overweight or obese as young adults if their mothers had high blood sugar levels during pregnancy, a study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has found.
One in six pregnancies in Hong Kong is complicated by abnormally high blood glucose levels, which can have long-term impacts on the health of the mothers and their children, researchers at CUHK’s Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine) said on Monday, citing three studies recently published by the school.
In one study, researchers tracked the health condition of 506 mother-child pairs from birth up to early adulthood over a span of nearly 20 years. They found a close relationship between glucose levels during pregnancy and the risk of abnormal glucose in the children during early adulthood.
The study also found that high maternal glucose levels during pregnancy were associated with a 50 per cent increased risk of the children being overweight or obese as young adults.
The study highlighted “the link between maternal condition and the long-term metabolic health of their children,” CU Medicine said in a statement on Monday.
Another study by CU Medicine found that children born to mothers with gestational diabetes who were overweight during pregnancy were seven times more likely to have increased body fat accumulation during childhood, compared with those whose mothers did not have such metabolic issues.
The findings indicate that overnutrition in pregnant women can have adverse long-term effects on the development of their children, CUHK researchers said.
Tam Wing-hung, clinical professor (honorary) at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at CU Medicine, said on Monday that researchers had little idea of the long-term consequences of gestational diabetes when they first began the follow-up study.
The team was “surprised” to see that after 18 years, they could still see a link between an abnormally high blood sugar level during pregnancy and the children’s metabolic status, he said.
