Pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity and gestational diabetes as predictors of body composition in offspring twenty years later: evidence from two birth cohort studies

Background: Global prevalence of overweight/obesity and gestational diabetes (GDM) is increasing. In pregnant women both conditions affect offspring’s later health. Overweight/obesity is a risk factor of GDM; to what extent maternal overweight/obesity explains long-term effects of GDM in offspring is unknown. Objective: To evaluate effects of maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity (body mass index (BMI) ⩾25 kg m −2 ) and GDM, occurring together or separately, on body composition among adult offspring. Methods: Participants include 891 individuals aged 24.1 years (s.d. 1.4) from two longitudinal cohort studies (ESTER and AYLS). Adult offspring of normoglycemic mothers with overweight/obesity (ONOO, n =153), offspring of mothers with GDM (OGDM; n =191) and controls ( n =547) underwent anthropometric measurements and bioimpedance analysis. Gestational diabetes mellitus was diagnosed by oral glucose tolerance test. Data were analyzed by linear regression models adjusted for confounders. Results: Compared with controls, ONOO-participants showed higher BMI (men 1.64 kg m −2 (95% confidence interval 0.57, 2.72); women 1.41 kg m −2 (0.20, 2.63)) and fat percentage (men 2.70% (0.99, 4.41); women 2.98% (0.87, 5.09)) with larger waist circumferences (men 3.34 cm (0.68, 5.99); women 3.09 cm (0.35, 5.83)). Likewise, OGDM-participants showed higher fat percentage (men 1.97% (0.32, 3.61); women 2.32% (0.24, 4.41)). Body mass index was non-significantly different between OGDM-participants and controls (men 0.88 kg m −2 (−0.17, 1.92); women 0.82 kg m −2 (−0.39, 2.04)). Also waist circumferences were larger (men 2.63 cm (−0.01, 5.28); women 3.39 cm (0.60, 6.18)); this difference was statistically significant in OGDM-women only. Differences in body composition measures were stronger among offspring of women with both GDM and overweight/obesity. For instance, fat mass was higher among OGDM-participants of overweight mothers (men 4.24 kg (1.36, 7.11) vs controls; women 5.22 kg (1.33, 9.11)) than OGDM participants of normal weight mothers (men 1.50 kg (−2.11, 5.11) higher vs controls; women 1.57 kg (−3.27, 6.42)). Conclusions: Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and GDM are associated with unhealthy body size and composition in offspring over 20 years later. Effects of maternal pre-pregnancy overweight appear more pronounced.