title: Association of maternal diabetes and child asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Perinatal programming is an emerging theory for the fetal origins of chronic disease. Maternal asthma and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) are two of the best-known triggers for the perinatal programming of asthma, while the potential role of maternal diabetes has not been widely studied.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if maternal diabetes is associated with child asthma, and if so, whether it modifies the effects of ETS exposure and maternal asthma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 3,574 Canadian children, aged 7-8 years, enrolled in a population-based birth cohort. Standardized questionnaires were completed by the children's parents, and data were analyzed by multivariable logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Asthma was reported in 442 children (12.4%). Compared to those without asthma, asthmatic children were more likely to have mothers (P = 0.003), but not fathers (P = 0.89), with diabetes. Among children without maternal history of diabetes, the likelihood of child asthma was 1.4-fold higher in those exposed to ETS (adjusted odds ratio, 1.40; 95% confidence interval, 1.13-1.73), and 3.6-fold higher in those with maternal asthma (3.59; 2.71-4.76). Among children born to diabetic mothers, these risks were amplified to 5.7-fold (5.68; 1.18-27.37) and 11.3-fold (11.30; 2.26-56.38), respectively. In the absence of maternal asthma or ETS, maternal diabetes was not associated with child asthma (0.65, 0.16-2.56).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that maternal diabetes may contribute to the perinatal programming of child asthma by amplifying the detrimental effects of ETS exposure and maternal asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Women and Children's Health Research Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Meghan B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Azad
authors.forename: Allan B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Anita L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Kozyrskyj
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution