Treatment of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Offspring Early Childhood Growth

Abstract

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with fetal overgrowth, and certain treatments are associated with an increased risk of macrosomia. However, there are limited data about the long-term effect of GDM treatment on childhood growth.

Methods: Cohort study of 816 women with GDM and their offspring delivered between 2009 and 2012. Childhood height and weight through age 3 were collected from the medical record and z-scores and body mass index (BMI) were calculated. We assessed the association between GDM treatment and childhood growth using linear mixed modeling.

Results: Treatment was divided into medical nutritional therapy (MNT) (n = 293), glyburide (n = 421), and insulin (n = 102). At delivery, birthweight, z-score, and BMI were higher in the offspring of women treated with either glyburide or insulin compared to MNT. However, weight, z-score, and BMI were similar among all offspring at 6 months and 1, 2, and 3 years of age. After controlling for covariates, there were differences in the weight z-score (P = 0.01) over the 3-year period by treatment group, but no differences in weight (P = 0.06) or change in BMI (P = 0.28). Pairwise comparisons indicated that insulin was associated with more weight gain compared with MNT (0.69 kg; 95% CI, 0.10-1.28; P = 0.02) and glyburide was associated with a trend toward lower weight z-score compared with MNT (-0.24; 95% CI, -0.47 to 0.003; P = 0.05).

Conclusion: Despite growth differences detected at birth, we observed no meaningful differences in childhood growth from 6 months to 3 years among treatment groups, including in the offspring of women with GDM treated with glyburide.