title: Gestational diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors in the offspring: results from a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While the association of gestational diabetes mellitus and abnormal glucose tolerance is beyond doubt, its associations with other cardiovascular disease risk factors in the offspring are less clearly established. Some of these associations, in particular overweight in the offspring, might be confounded by maternal overweight.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on 12,542 children in the age of 3-17 years with full information about gestational diabetes mellitus and maternal BMI were available from the German nationwide KiGGS study. We calculated linear and logistic regression models for measurements of body composition, blood pressure, HbA(1c) and cholesterol values in the offspring with gestational diabetes mellitus as the explanatory variable, with and without adjustment for maternal BMI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus in the dataset was 2.2%. Unadjusted regression analyses suggested weak positive effects of gestational diabetes mellitus on body composition measurements [e.g. a mean increase in BMI standard deviation scores (SDS) of 0.17 units (95% confidence interval: 0.03, 0.30)]. After adjustment for maternal BMI, the observed associations almost disappeared [e.g. BMI SDS: 0.07 (-0.06, 0.20)]. With respect to blood pressure and cholesterol, no potential effects of gestational diabetes mellitus were observed in both unadjusted and adjusted models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gestational diabetes mellitus does not appear to have a relevant effect on cardiovascular disease correlates such as blood pressure or cholesterol levels in children, and the potential effect of gestational diabetes mellitus on body composition seems to be widely explainable by maternal BMI.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Institute of Social Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Division of Epidemiology, Munich, Germany. andreas.beyerlein@med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beyerlein
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nehring
authors.forename: A Schaffrath
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rosario
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: von Kries
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D018149:Glucose Intolerance; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D002784:Cholesterol