Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Pregnancy and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) in North American Indian Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA): Implications for Girls and Stopping GDM

  • Pediatric Type 2 and Monogenic Diabetes (O Pinhas-Hamiel, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Diabetes Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

To provide an updated synopsis of the research and clinical practice findings on pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) adolescents and to describe the newly developed “Stopping GDM,” an early intervention, culturally tailored risk reduction program for AIAN girls and their mothers.

Recent Findings

Five research articles met our inclusion criteria. Three retrospective quantitative studies published in the past 10 years corroborated a 1.5 to 2 times higher prevalence for GDM for all age groups in the AIAN population as compared to other ethnic groups, and that the percentage of GDM cases attributable to overweight and obesity was highest for AIs (52.8%). Moreover, First Nations women across all age groups had more adverse pregnancy risk factors than non-First Nations women. Out of the five selected articles, two were qualitative research articles: one examined AIAN women’s experiences of having GDM or type 2 diabetes (T2D) during pregnancy and the other appraised the understanding of GDM and reproductive health of at-risk AIAN girls.

Summary

There is a paucity of research published on this topic. AIAN females are at high risk for developing GDM. Early, culturally responsive interventions and cohort follow-up studies are needed among adolescents and young adults, using technology that appeals to this age group.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

  1. Ventura SJ, Mathews TJ, Hamilton BE. Births to teenagers in the United States, 1940-2000. Natl Vital Stat Rep [Internet]. 2001;49:10):1–23 Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11593890.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Garrett BE, Dube SR, Winder C, Caraballo RS. CDC health disparities and inequalities report—United States. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep [Internet]. 2013;62(3):81–4 Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24264487.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Hartling L, Dryden DM, Guthrie A, Melanie Muise M, Ben Vandermeer M, Aktary WM, et al. Evidence report/technology assessment 210: screening and diagnosing gestational diabetes mellitus, vol. 210; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Kim SY, England L, Sappenfield W, Wilson HG, Bish CL, Salihu HM, et al. Racial/ethnic differences in the percentage of gestational diabetes mellitus cases attributable to overweight and obesity, Florida, 2004-2007. Prev Chronic Dis [Internet]. 2012;9(6):E88 Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22515970 http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=PMC3406742.

    Google Scholar 

  5. LaVallie DL, Gabbe SG, Grossman DC, Larson EB, Baldwin L, Andrilla CHA. Birth outcomes among American Indian/Alaska Native women with diabetes in pregnancy. J Reprod Med [Internet]. 2003;48(8):610–6 Available from: http://ezproxy.library.dal.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=c8h&AN=2004061781&site=ehost-live.

    Google Scholar 

  6. American Diabetes Association. American Diabetes Association, proceeding of the fifth international workshop-conference on gestational diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2007;30(Supp 2).

  7. Wong T, Ross G, Jalaudin B, Flack J. The clinical significance of overt diabetes in pregnancy. Diabetes Metab Syndr Clin Res Rev. 2013;(4):468–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pettitt D, Jovanovic L. The vicious cycle of diabetes and pregnancy. Curr Diab Rep. 2007;7:295–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. de Azevedo WF, Diniz MB, da Fonseca ESVB, de Azevedo LMR, Evangelista CB. Complications in adolescent pregnancy: systematic review of the literature. Einstein (São Paulo). 2015;13(4):618–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. • Dennis JA. Birth weight and maternal age among American Indian/Alaska Native mothers: a test of the weathering hypothesis. SSM - Popul Heal [Internet]. 2019;7(April 2018):100304. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.10.004. Findings from this study suggest that gestational diabetes was particularly prevalent among AI/AN mothers and a concern despite favorable health outcomes.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Oster R, King M, Morrish D, Mayan M, Toth E. Diabetes in pregnancy among first nations women in Alberta, Canada: a retrospective analysis. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth [Internet]. 2014;14(1):9–11 Available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/14/136%5Cnhttp://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&PAGE=reference&D=emed11&NEWS=N&AN=2014287522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Stotz SA, Charron-Prochownik D, Terry MA, Gonzales K, Moore KR. Reducing risk for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) through a preconception counseling program for American Indian/Alaska Native girls: perceptions from women with type 2 diabetes or a history of GDM. Diabetes Educ. 2019;45(2):137–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. • Moore K, Stotz S, Nadeau KJ, Terry MA, Garcia-Reyes Y, Gonzales K, et al. Recommendations from American Indian and Alaska Native adolescent girls for a community-based gestational diabetes risk reduction and reproductive health education program. Res J Women’s Heal. 2019;6(1):1 This study identified AIAN adolescent participants’ lack of awareness and understanding of GDM, their risk for developing GDM, or strategies to minimize risk. This information helped inform the Stopping GDM program.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Charron-Prochownik D, Downs J. Diabetes and reproductive health for girls. Alexandria, VA: American Diabetes Association; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Dr. Mary Lou Klem for her assistance with the literature search. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IHS.

Funding

This study is supported by NIH 1R01NR014831-01A1.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Colorado School of Public Health, CU Anschutz Medical Campus, 13055 East 17th Ave, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Kelly Moore & Sarah Stotz

  2. University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, 440 Victoria Building, 3500 Victoria Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Andrea Fischl, Hiba Abujaradeh & Denise Charron-Prochownik

  3. Northern Navajo Medical Center, Hwy 491 N, PO Box 160, Shiprock, NM, 87420, USA

    Sandra Beirne

  4. Sundance Research Institute, 7475 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    Kristie McNealy

Authors
  1. Kelly Moore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sarah Stotz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrea Fischl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sandra Beirne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kristie McNealy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hiba Abujaradeh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Denise Charron-Prochownik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kelly Moore.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Pediatric Type 2 and Monogenic Diabetes

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Moore, K., Stotz, S., Fischl, A. et al. Pregnancy and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) in North American Indian Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA): Implications for Girls and Stopping GDM. Curr Diab Rep 19, 113 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-019-1241-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-019-1241-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation