Gestational diabetes & diabetes in pregnancy
A meta‐analysis of adverse offspring health outcomes in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus
Authors' conclusion
In conclusion, maternal GDM is significantly associated with an increased risk of obesity, neurodevelopmental disorders, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in offspring.
Study context
- Population
- Offspring of mothers with vs without gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM); observational studies published January 2010 to February 2024 (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane)
- Participants
- 3,310,217 offspring32 studies
- Comparison
- Offspring exposed to maternal GDM vs controls
- GDMn = 90,304
- Controlsn = 3,219,913reference
- Outcome
- Risk of chronic diseases in offspring: obesity, glycolipid metabolic disorders, neurodevelopmental conditions and CVD
Methodological detailssubgroup analyses, meta-regression, sensitivity analysis, Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment
- Subgroup analyses
- Meta-regression
- Sensitivity analysis
- Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Offspring chronic disease risk
GDM vs ControlsOdds ratio (95% CI)
Obesity and overweight
1.57(1.35–1.82)
Diabetes
4.50(2.87–7.70)
Autism spectrum disorder
1.38(1.20–1.59)
Intellectual disabilities
1.70(1.52–1.90)
GDM vs ControlsMD (95% CI)
Systolic blood pressure; higher with GDM
2.33(0.92–3.75)
Diastolic blood pressure; higher with GDM
0.53(0.09–0.96)
BMI; higher with GDM
0.62(0.45–0.80)
z-BMI score; higher with GDM
0.27(0.15–0.39)
TG; higher with GDM
0.04(0.04–0.04)
LDL-C; higher with GDM
0.02(0.02–0.02)
Further pooled results
Subgroup and meta-regression analyses
- Association largely unaffected by country status, offspring age, GDM screening methods or diagnostic criteria
- Findings robust in sensitivity analysis; no significant publication bias detected
Original publication
A meta‐analysis of adverse offspring health outcomes in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Obes Metab. Published 21 March 2025. doi:10.
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