Maternal Gestational Diabetes Increases Child's Risk of ADHD

Gestational diabetes mellitus and low socioeconomic status increased a child’s risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while fully breastfeeding the child decreased that risk, a German, population-based study showed. 

Jochen Schmitt, MD, of the Technical University Dresden in Germany, and Marcel Ramanos, MD, of the University Hospital of Wurzburg in Germany analyzed data from 11,222 children ages 3 to 17 years and their mothers, from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents. 

The researchers aimed to replicate, in a larger population, the findings of an earlier study (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2012; 166: 337-343) suggesting an association between gestational diabetes mellitus and low socioeconomic status as risk factors for ADHD.

In their study, researchers examined any association between lifetime diagnosis of ADHD and maternal factors, including alcohol consumption, perinatal health problems, breastfeeding, and atopic eczema. 

Using parental education, professional status, and household income, they also measure participants’ socioeconomic status. 

Low socioeconomic status and gestational diabetes mellitus were found to be risk factors for childhood ADHD (adjusted odds ratio 2.04, 95% CI 1.56 to 2.68 and aOR 1.91, 95% CI 1.21 to 3.01, respectively), as were smoking during pregnancy (aOR 1.48, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.84), perinatal health problems (aOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.40 to 2.03), and atopic eczema (aOR 1.62, 95% CI 1.30 to 2.02).

Breast feeding was found to have a positive effect on risk (aOR 0.83, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.996).

Researchers concluded that through "evidence-based prevention programs,” mothers who altered these risk factors “may help to decrease the burden of ADHD."

-Michael Potts