Maternal obesity and glucose intolerance during pregnancy among Mexican‐Americans

Abstract

Low birthweight is uncommon among Mexican-American infants, despite the substantial proportion of mothers who live in poverty. This apparent paradox has generated studies of factors protecting fetal growth, but may have masked other important health problems in the Mexican-American community. Obesity, impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes are common among Mexican-American women of childbearing age and during pregnancy. Prevalence of these conditions is two to four times higher in Mexican-American than in non-Hispanic white women. As obesity and glucose intolerance during pregnancy are associated with fetal overgrowth and increased risk of subsequent obesity and type 2 diabetes in mother and child, the adequacy of birthweight as a measure of maternal and infant risk may be obscured in populations with a high prevalence of these conditions. Their possible contribution to the increasing incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in Mexican-American children, adolescents and young adults has not been examined. Appropriate preconception, prenatal and follow-up care may identify high-risk women, improve weight and metabolic status and reduce the severity and impact of diabetes and its complications. However, late or no prenatal care is common among Mexican-American women and the frequency of follow-up care is unknown. As low birthweight is a major public health indicator of maternal and neonatal health, perceived 'good birth outcomes' have reduced health policy, programme and research attention to Mexican-American mothers and infants. Studies of the impact of obesity and glucose intolerance during pregnancy on the birthweights of Mexican-American infants should be undertaken, along with systematic assessment of the subsequent health status and preventive health-care needs of women and children in this population.

Calcium channel blockers as drug repurposing candidates for gestational diabetes: Mining large scale genomic and electronic health records data to repurpose medications

“…Each additional point of BMI was associated with an increase of 0.52 mg/dL (95% CI 0.41 to 0.63, p < 0.001). Hispanic ethnicity was associated with an increase of 6.69 mg/dL (95% CI 4.53 to 8.85 mg/dL, p < 0.001) as previously reported 27 . Demographics are described in Table S4.…”

Maternal health: does prenatal care make a difference?

“…In the year 1990, the health problems associated with either too low or excessive pregnancy weight gain lead the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to publish its weight gain guidelines [52]. Recently, several medical papers evaluate the compliance with these guidelines and stress the role of comprehensive prenatal care in meeting the IOM goals [53][54][55][56][57]. With the spread of the 'obesity epidemic' in the US, the association between excessive weight gain and weight retention and obesity is receiving special attention.…”

“…With the spread of the 'obesity epidemic' in the US, the association between excessive weight gain and weight retention and obesity is receiving special attention. It has been found that the prevalence of excessive weight gain is high [53,57] and that substantial racial disparities exist [54,56]. Evidence from clinical trials on the potential role of prenatal care in dealing with these issues is encouraging, however.…”

Incidence of obesity in pregnancy period in Kragujevac area

“…Повећан прираст телесне масе је био учесталији код трудница прекомерне телесне масе, овакве резултате су потврдиле и друге студије (17,18) . У овој студији смо пронашли да труднице прекомерне телесне масе имају значајно повећан ризик за појаву гестацијског дијабетеса, што су приметили и други аутори (11,(19)(20)(21)(22)(23) . Такође је примећено чешће јављање гестацијског дијабетеса код вишеротки, што се може повезати са већом инциденцом јављања прекомерне телесне масе код њих.…”