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Pune Study: Pregnancy Diabetes Linked to Childhood
6 Jan
Summary
- Gestational diabetes reflects lifelong metabolic risk, not temporary condition.
- Childhood diet and undernutrition significantly impact future diabetes risk.
- Study urges earlier focus on girls' health for diabetes prevention.
A landmark three-decade study from Pune, India, challenges the understanding of gestational diabetes. Researchers found that high blood sugar during pregnancy is not solely a result of pregnancy hormones but indicates a pre-existing, lifelong metabolic risk that begins in childhood. The study observed that elevated glucose levels, often linked to early undernutrition and imbalanced diets, predispose women to diabetes later in life.
Data collected between 1994 and 1996 from nearly 800 women and their children revealed that 28% of children had prediabetes by age 18. This suggests that factors like poor fetal growth and parental high blood sugar contribute to future disease susceptibility. The findings support the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHAD) theory, highlighting how early life nutrition programs the body for insulin resistance.
The study published in Diabetologia advocates for a critical re-evaluation of current practices, suggesting that the critical window for diabetes programming may be before conception. It calls for prioritizing girls' health much earlier and tailoring diagnostic and management strategies to local Indian realities, given that Indian babies are among the smallest globally.
