New Study Links Diabetes During Pregnancy to Greater A.D.H.D. Risk in Children

The Latest

Maternal diabetes, a pregnancy complication that can affect up to a third of women globally, is linked with a higher risk of neurodevelopmental issues in children, a large new study found.

The study, which was published in the journal Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology on Monday, adds to a growing body of evidence that ties maternal diabetes to a range of health complications for both the mother and the child. Though the findings describe only a correlation, experts said the data underscored the need for screening and early treatment of diabetes, a condition that is becoming more common worldwide.

In the United States, an estimated 10 percent of women had diagnosed diabetes in 2021, and 9 percent of pregnant American women develop gestational diabetes every year.

“We’ve known for some time that there’s some link between elevated glucose levels in pregnancy and future neurodevelopmental disorders,” said Dr. Elizabeth Halprin, who is chief of adult diabetes at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and was not involved in the study. The new findings speak “to the need to control diabetes during pregnancy,” she added.

The Research

The analysis, which pooled data from 202 studies on more than 56 million pregnancies around the world, examined outcomes for children whose mothers had Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes while pregnant, or were diagnosed with gestational diabetes. These conditions are collectively referred to as “maternal diabetes.”

Even when studies accounted for other factors like a woman’s age or body mass index, children born to women who had diabetes during pregnancy were 28 percent more likely to have a neurodevelopmental issue than children whose mothers didn’t have the disease. The risks of A.D.H.D. and intellectual disability were slightly higher compared with those of other issues, like autism.

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