Association of a Woman's Own Birth Weight With Subsequent Risk for Gestational Diabetes

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Abstract
Studies from several countries have demonstrated that birth weight is inversely related to subsequent risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM),1-3 insulin resistance,2,4 and other features of the metabolic or insulin resistance syndrome.1,2,4 These findings support the ‘"fetal origins" hypothesis—that susceptibility to these chronic adult conditions may be programmed in utero. However, other studies, particularly among younger populations, have yielded conflicting findings,5,6 and some investigators have argued that the observed relation between chronic disease risk and impaired fetal growth could be confounded by later environmental influences and/or by relative postnatal growth.7-9 In addition, studies have been recently criticized for failure to adjust adequately for gestational age, maternal chronic disease, and other perinatal factors, which may influence both birth size and future chronic disease risk in the offspring.8,9