Background Intrauterine exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may promote offspring obesity and higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) by adolescence. Few studies have examined adiposity or SBP in younger children exposed to GDM. This study’s objective was to examine associations of maternal glucose tolerance during pregnancy with offspring adiposity and SBP at age 3 years. Methods We studied 1,238 mother-child pairs in Project Viva, a prospective prebirth cohort study. Exposures were maternal blood glucose following oral glucose load, and GDM confirmed by 3-h glucose tolerance test. Main child outcomes were age 3-year body mass index (BMI) z-score, the sum (SS+TR) and ratio (SS/TR) of subscapular (SS) and tricep (TR) skinfold thicknesses, and SBP. We performed adjusted multivariable analyses. Results Fifty-one (4%) mothers had GDM. 9.3% of 3 year-old children were obese and mean (s.d.) SBP was 92 (11) mm Hg. Children exposed to GDM had higher SBP (3.2 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4, 5.9, P = 0.02) and greater adiposity when assessed by the sum of skinfolds (SS+TR 1.31 mm, 95% CI: 0.08, 2.55, P = 0.04) but not by BMI z-score (−0.08 units, 95% CI: −0.37, 0.22, P = 0.61). After additional adjustment for the sum of skinfold thicknesses (SS+TR), the relationship between GDM and SBP was attenuated and no longer significant (2.6 mm Hg, 95% CI: −0.2, 5.4, P = 0.07). Conclusions Children exposed to GDM have higher adiposity, which may mediate the higher SBP in these children. These findings extend to younger children the adverse effects of GDM previously found among adolescents and adults.

The theory of planned behavior is useful in understanding the association of psychosocial factors and GWG. More research is warranted to evaluate the generalizability of the findings prior to the development of an effective intervention.

Birth certificates are potentially a valuable source of information for studying gestational weight gain (GWG) during pregnancy, particularly important given new Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines. We examined factors associated with the accuracy of maternal GWG self-report by linking the gold standard obstetric electronic medical record (EMR) of women from a large urban practice to state birth certificates. Primary outcomes included maternal under-reporting of GWG (>10 lbs below the EMR), accurate reporting (within 10 lbs), and over-reporting (>10 lbs above EMR). Data were stratified across categories of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and the actual GWG IOM categories (inadequate, adequate, and excessive) acquired in the clinical setting and recorded in the EMR. Among 1,223 women, mean (SD) age was 27.4 (6.2) years, mean (SD) BMI was 28.2 (8.1) kg/m(2), and mean GWG was 26.0 (20.2) pounds. The majority of women with normal BMI (<25 kg/m(2)) and adequate GWG reported GWG accurately (78.8%), more so than any other group. After adjusting for age, race, insurance status, and number of prenatal visits, among women with actual adequate GWG, women with high BMI (≥25 kg/m(2)) were more likely to over-report GWG than women with normal BMI (RR 4.7, 95% CI 2.6-8.4). In patients with normal BMI, women with excessive GWG were more likely to under-report than women with adequate GWG (RR 6.0, 95% CI 3.0-12.1). Such findings raise concern for systematic bias that would limit the use of birth certificate data for studying population trends in GWG.