title: Offspring birth weight and risk of mortality from diabetes in mothers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mothers with lower birth weight (LBW) offspring have been found to be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity, which shares many risk factors with diabetes. Aims To investigate the relation between offspring birth weight and maternal risk of mortality from diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1 400 383 singletons of primigravida registered in Taiwan between 1978 and 1987 were followed to the end of 2006. The offspring birth weight was assessed with and without standardisation for the gestational age of offspring. Cox model was used to estimate the HR of maternal diabetes mortality in relation to offspring birth weights.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Altogether, 812 (5.8%) mothers died of diabetes. Mothers with LBW (<2500 g) and macrosomia (>4000 g) offspring were both at increased risks of mortality from diabetes with HR 1.76 (95% CI 1.46 to 2.19) and 2.86 (95% CI 2.32 to 3.53), respectively. Similar results were seen while birth weight was standardised for gestational age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This cohort study found that mothers with LBW and macrosomia offspring had an increased mortality risk of diabetes. This relationship could be attributable to the possible pathway of intergenerational effects or maternal insulin resistance due to maladaptation to pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Management, National Taipei College of Nursing, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chung-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Fung-Chang
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Pi-Ching
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Ming-Der
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tsung-Hsueh
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hua-Fen
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001719:Birth Certificates; D002423:Cause of Death; D003644:Death Certificates; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D005320:Fetal Macrosomia; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008423:Maternal Age; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D011247:Pregnancy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult