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Gestational Weight Gain, Early Pregnancy Maternal Adiposity Distribution, and Maternal Hyperglycemia

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Abstract

To estimate the effects of gestational weight gain (GWG), central adiposity and subcutaneous fat on maternal post-load glucose concentration, pregnant women [n = 413, 62 % black, 57 % with pregravid body mass index (BMI) ≥25] enrolled in a cohort study at ≤13 weeks gestation. GWG was abstracted from medical records. In a sub-sample of women (n = 214), waist circumference (WC), and biceps and triceps skinfold thicknesses were measured at enrollment. At 24–28 weeks gestation, post-load glucose concentration was measured using a 50-g 1-h oral glucose tolerance test. After adjustment for pre-pregnancy BMI, age, parity, race/ethnicity, smoking, marital status, annual family income, education, family history of diabetes, and gestational age of GDM screening, each 0.3-kg/week increase in weight in the first trimester was associated with a 2.2 (95 % CI 0.1, 4.3)-mg/dl increase in glucose concentration. Each 8.6-mm increase in biceps skinfold thickness and each 11.7-mm increase in triceps skinfold thickness was associated with 4.3 (95 % CI 0.2, 8.5)-mg/dl increase in maternal glucose, independent of BMI and other confounders. Neither GWG in the second trimester nor WC at ≤13 weeks was significantly associated with glucose concentration after confounder adjustment. Independent of pre-pregnancy BMI, high early pregnancy GWG and maternal subcutaneous body fat may be positively associated with maternal glucose concentrations at 24–28 weeks.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health NIH Grant R01 HD052732 (PI: Simhan) and the Reproductive, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Grant HD 055 162-03 NIH NRSA T32 (NICHD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Laura E. Tomedi, Kathleen M. McTigue & Lisa M. Bodnar

  2. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Hyagriv N. Simhan & Lisa M. Bodnar

  3. Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Chung-Chou H. Chang & Kathleen M. McTigue

Authors
  1. Laura E. Tomedi
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  2. Hyagriv N. Simhan
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  3. Chung-Chou H. Chang
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  4. Kathleen M. McTigue
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  5. Lisa M. Bodnar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa M. Bodnar.

Additional information

Portions of this research were included in a poster presented at the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research, June 2011, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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Tomedi, L.E., Simhan, H.N., Chang, CC.H. et al. Gestational Weight Gain, Early Pregnancy Maternal Adiposity Distribution, and Maternal Hyperglycemia. Matern Child Health J 18, 1265–1270 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1361-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1361-3

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