Increasing numbers of children suffering from obesity is a grave concern regarding public health. Obesity numbers in younger populations is disproportionate based on race and ethnicity. Researchers from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has published a study in the journal Diabetologia regarding the effect of maternal adipose tissue, pregnancy weight gain and gestational diabetes on childhood obesity numbers.
More than 105,000 pregnancies were evaluated for the study. All pregnancies took place between 2002 and 2008. Researchers found a connection between adipose tissue levels pre-pregnancy, weight gain during pregnancy and gestational diabetes and giving birth to a large for gestational age (LGA) infant. The connections were independent of race/ethnicity, but the results of combined connections differed among racial divides. Gestational diabetes did not increase risk of LGA in non-Hispanic whites. Elevated risk was found in Asian women when just two of the three confounding factors were reported.
Source: Bowers K, Laughon SK, Kiely M, Brite J, Chen Z, Zhang C. Gestational diabetes, pre-pregnancy obesity and pregnancy weight gain in relation to excess fetal growth: variations by race/ethnicity. Diabetologia. 2013 Apr 10.