Children born to mothers with GDM were significantly more likely to be overweight at an early age than those born to nondiabetic mothers.

Reports on the influence of inhaled glucocorticoids on growth have been controversial. We studied the growth of prepubertal asthmatic children prior to and during glucocorticoid therapy. We collected retrospectively the notes of 201 asthmatic children aged 1-11 years receiving inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate or budesonide. We calculated their height and height velocity standard deviation scores (HSDS and HVSDS, respectively) before the treatment and up to 5 years during the treatment and compared those with the growth of healthy peers. The dose of the medication was calculated and the severity of asthma was assessed. The asthmatic children grew similarly to their healthy peers before treatment with inhaled glucocorticoids: the mean HSDS was +0.02 and the mean HVSDS +0.01 for boys and -0.16 and +0.13 for girls, respectively. Growth retardation took place soon after the start of the treatment, the most profound decrease in the growth velocity (the change in the mean HVSDS from +0.05 to -0.88) occurring during the first year of treatment. The growth-retarding effect of inhaled glucocorticoids was not dose dependent. In the covariance analysis the increasing severity of asthma had a significant interaction with repeated measurements, showing more growth retardation along with more severe asthma, especially during long-term treatment. Asthma per se does not impair growth, but inhaled glucocorticoids may do so. Careful monitoring of the growth of all asthmatic children receiving inhaled glucocorticoids is necessary because the growth-retarding effect of the medication is not dose dependent. Individual sensitivity might explain the differences seen in the growth patterns of children receiving inhaled glucocorticoids.

The height and height velocity standard deviation scores (HSDS and HVSDS) of 64 prepubertal children with mild to moderate chronic arthritis were calculated at the time of diagnosis and then annually during treatment and follow‐up of 4 y. Preceding the diagnosis, children with chronic arthritis were as a group slightly taller than their healthy peers. During the year before the diagnosis they had grown faster than their peers. During the first year of treatment their growth velocity decreased (change in the mean HVSDS from +0.63 to ‐0.52), but during further follow‐up it returned to the pretreatment level (the mean HVSDS being +0.53 four years after the diagnosis). The growth was influenced more by polyarticular than by pauciarticular disease. The cumulative total dose of glucocorticosteroids did not have statistically significant influence on growth. In conclusion, growth retardation in prepubertal children with chronic arthritis was seen following the diagnosis and initiation of treatment, more so in polyarticular disease. During further follow‐up, growth velocity increased. This reflected the growth promoting effect of inflammatory process control. □Arthritis, glucocorticosteroids, growth, juvenile, prepubertal

No abstract