Children of mothers with obesity and gestational diabetes are at higher risk for developing ADHD

Children of women with gestational diabetes and pregestational obesity are more likely to develop ADHD than the offspring of women with normal weight, according to study findings.

Researchers conducted a cohort study of 1,036 children born from mothers with gestational diabetes from 1991 to 2008 at Hospital Universitari Mutua Terrassa. Pregestational BMI was calculated based on self-reported maternal weight before pregnancy. Overweight included women with a BMI of 25 kg/m2 to 29.9 kg/m2, and obesity was defined as a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or higher. Gestational weight gain was calculated as the difference between the final weight measured at the last antenatal visit and the pregestational weight. The rate of gestational weight gain was defined as insufficient, adequate, or excessive based on recommendations from the National Academy of Medicine. Children with ADHD were identified from medical records.

Children were followed for a median of 17.7 years, with 13% of offspring in the cohort having an incident case of ADHD. After adjusting for risk factors and gestational diabetes-related variables, children of women with obesity had an increased risk for ADHD compared with those with normal weight (adjusted HR = 1.66; 95% CI, 1.07-2.6).

“The loss of association between maternal obesity and ADHD in offspring when National Academy of Medicine targets was not exceeded highlights that promoting healthy gain during pregnancy should be a priority in the current management of gestation,” the researchers wrote. “Nonetheless, future studies with larger sample sizes in broader populations are needed to confirm these results.”

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