Are short women at risk for gestational diabetes mellitus?

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the influence of height variations on the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Research design and methods: We analyzed the medical records of 1830 Caucasian women with GDM and 1011 healthy pregnant women. The following data were collected: age, prior macrosomia, prior GDM, parity, history of type 2 diabetes in first-degree relatives, weight before pregnancy, weight gain during pregnancy, glucose level at the first obstetric visit, results of the glucose challenge test and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), HbA1c, and method for treatment of GDM. Results: Women with GDM were significantly shorter than the healthy controls (165.7G5.6 vs 163.8G6.6 cm; P!0.001). The differences in height were not significant between GDM women who required insulin therapy and those treated with diet alone (PZ0.12). All the studied variables, including height, were independently associated with GDM. Even after adjustment for confounding variables, height was still associated with GDM (odds ratio 0.958, 95% confidence interval: 0.94-0.97; P!0.00001). In women with GDM diagnosed by 75-g OGTT, we found a significant inverse association of height adjusted for age and pregravid weight with 2-h glucose level (bZK0.12; P!0.0001). Conclusions: Caucasian women with GDM are shorter than pregnant women without GDM regardless of the diagnostic criteria used or the severity of glucose intolerance. Although height is an independent predictor for GDM, its predictive value for identifying women at risk is relatively low and should not be considered in selective screening for this disease.

Impact of ethnicity on gestational diabetes identified with the WHO and the modified International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups criteria: a population-based cohort study

“…Body height has been negatively associated with GDM (23) and may serve as a proxy for intrauterine and childhood growth in the mothers and socioeconomic determinants related to stunting (10, 23). The association between height and GDM could reflect a deleterious impact of fetal or early life deprivation on glucose metabolism in pregnancy, captured with the WHO criteria.…”

Prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in rural Haryana: A community-based study

“…In accordance with our study, Ogonowski et al ., reported that Caucasian women with GDM were significantly shorter than women without GDM (163.8 ± 6.6 vs 165.7 ± 5.6 cm; P < 0.001). [22] Moses et al ., reported that GDM women were a mean of 2.8 cm shorter than non-GDM women. [23] Yang et al ., and Rudra et al ., also revealed similar observations.…”

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Korean Women: Similarities and Differences from Other Racial/Ethnic Groups

“…Height is another marker for intrauterine deprivation, in that babies who are small for gestational age tend to be significantly shorter than babies who are larger for gestational age [30]. Among Polish mothers, women with GDM have been slightly but significantly shorter than women without GDM (165.7 cm vs. 163.8 cm; P <0.001), an association that persisted even after adjustment for other measures such as age and prepregnancy BMI [31]. Similarly, among Koreans, women with GDM are slightly but significantly shorter than women with normal glucose tolerance (158 cm vs. 160 cm; P <0.001) [32].…”