Maternal hyperglycaemia – food for thought

Improvements in obstetric and diabetic care over the last fifty years have ensured that the majority of diabetic women today give birth to a live and healthy infant. However, there is increasing evidence that these children undergo metabolic adaptation in utero, due to maternal hyperglycaemia, which predisposes them to future obesity and type 2 diabetes. With the rise in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among women of child‐bearing age, the number of pregnancies affected by maternal hyperglycaemia will continue to increase. In the Native American population, maternal hyperglycaemia has been shown to be a major contributor to adolescent obesity and type 2 diabetes. To what extent maternal hyperglycaemia is fuelling the global rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes is unknown, but on available evidence its contribution is likely to be highly significant. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.