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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Feb 23.
Published in final edited form as: Ann Nutr Metab. 2021 Jan 19;76 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):4–15. doi: 10.1159/000509902

Table 1. Selected studies linking GDM with offspring body composition and cardiometabolic health.

Study Design Cohort Sample size GDM criteria Offspring age (years) Major outcomes for GDM-exposed offspring
Body composition
Chen et al. (2020) [11] China Cohort Medical Birth Registry of Xiamen, China; a population-based retrospective cohort 33,157 International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) Range: 1–6 GDM and large-for-gestational age not associated with overweight (OR: 1.27, 95% CI; 0.96-1.68), adjusted for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI
Kawasaki et al. (2018) [12] Japan Meta-analysis Included two cohort studies adjusting for maternal BMI; UK, USA 5,941 Carpenter-Coustan, questionnaire Range: 3–15.5 Not associated with BMI z-scores (pooled MD: -0.11, 95% CI: -0.33–0.12), adjusted for covariates including maternal pre-pregnancy BMI
Lowe et al. (2018) [10] USA Cohort Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study 4,832 International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) Mean (SD): 11.4 (1.2) Not associated with overweight/obesity (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.00-1.46), adjusted for maternal BMI at OGTT during pregnancy
Glucose metabolism
Blotsky et al. (2019) [20] Canada Matched cohort A combination of health administrative data with birth registry information from Quebec, Canada 36,590 mother-child pairs with GDM and matched 1:1 with controls Two abnormal values on a 75-g OGTT or a 50-g glucose screen ≥10.3 mmol/l From birth to 22 Associated with incident diabetes (HR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.41–2.22), not adjusted for maternal BMI
Kawasaki et al. (2018) [12] Japan Meta-analysis Included four cohort studies adjusting for maternal BMI; Denmark, Hong Kong SAR, USA 890 Self-report, questionnaire, WHO criteria 1999, OGTT Range: 7–20 Associated with 2-h plasma glucose (pooled MD: 0.43 mmol/L, 95% CI: 0.18–0.69), adjusted for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI
Lowe Jr et al. (2019) [21] USA Cohort HAPO Follow-up Study (FUS) 4,160 International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) Mean (SD): 11.4 (1.2) Range: 10-14

  • Associated with IGT (OR: 1.96, 1.41–2.73), insulin sensitivity (adjusted MD: −76.3, −130.3 to −22.4] and oral disposition index (adjusted MD: −0.12, −0.17 to −0.064), adjusted for family history of diabetes, maternal BMI, and child BMI z score

  • Not associated with IFG (OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.78–1.52)
Pathirana et al. (2020) [19] Australia Meta-analysis Included 11 cohort studies; China, Denmark, Greece, USA 6,423 NDDG, self-reported/confirmed with hospital records, Carpenter-Coustan, WHO criteria 1999, IADPSG, based on GDM risk factors followed by OGTT Range: 7–27 Associated with fasting glucose (standardized MD: 0.43, 95% CI 0.08–0.77), not adjusted for maternal BMI
Cardiovascular outcomes
Øyen et al. (2016) [23] Denmark Cohort Data linkage of Denmark’s nationwide registers 2,025,727 Medical record From birth to 34

  • GDM in third trimester associated with any type of congenital heart defects (adjusted relative risk: 1.36, 95% CI 1.07–1.69)

  • No association for GDM in second trimester
Yu et al. (2019) [22] Denmark Cohort Danish national health registries 26,272 Medical record From birth to 40 Associated with overall CVD (HR: 1.19, 95% CI 1.07–1.32), hypertensive disease (HR 1.77, 1.27–2.48), adjusted for sociodemographic status and maternal/paternal history of cardiovascular disease

CI, confidence interval; CVD, cardiovascular disease; GDM, gestational diabetes mellitus; HR, hazard ratio; md, mean difference; IFG, impaired fasting glucose; IGT, impaired glucose tolerance; NDDG, National Diabetes Data Group; OGTT, oral glucose tolerance test; OR, odds ratio; SD, standard deviation, WHO, World Health Organisation