Nutritional risk factors of early development of postpartum prediabetes and diabetes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus.

Objective: Early detection of prediabetes and diabetes after delivery helps prevent and delay the development of overt type 2 diabetes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We sought to identify modifiable risk factors for the early development of postpartum type 2 diabetes in women with GDM that may help establish interventions for preventing or delaying the subsequent onset of type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Three hundred eighty-one women who developed GDM during pregnancy were tested for 1) antepartum anthropometric and biochemical measurements, 2) pregnancy outcome, 3) oral glucose tolerance test at 6 to 12 wk after delivery, and 4) postpartum anthropometric, biochemical, and nutritional measurements. The subjects were divided into three groups on the basis of the postpartum oral glucose tolerance test results: normal glucose tolerance group (n=193), prediabetes (n=161), and diabetes (n=27).

Results: The incidences of postpartum prediabetes and diabetes at 6 to 12 wk follow-up in Korean women with GDM were 44.8% and 5.2%, respectively. Antepartum modifiable risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes at early postpartum included higher body mass index, lower β-cell function, insulin dosage during late pregnancy, and the non-modifiable risk factor of family history of diabetes (R2=0.14). Postpartum risk factors included higher body mass index, serum triacylglycerols, hemoglobin A1c, and energy intake and lower insulin secretion capacity (R2=0.43). Animal fat intake was higher in the prediabetes and diabetes groups than in the normal glucose tolerance group, whereas breast-feeding did not alter the risk for the development of postpartum diabetes.

Conclusion: This study strongly suggests that the development of postpartum type 2 diabetes in women with GDM can be prevented and/or delayed by lifestyle and nutritional intervention during antepartum and postpartum.