Risk Factors

[lisalu]

I just posted on the Introduction thread. I have some risk factors for diabetes which I am confused about. Namely, large birth weight babies.

Okay, I have heard it over and over that having large babies is a risk factor, but I don't understand WHY???

Three of my four children were 9 or 10 lbs at birth. (Big babies run in my husbands family, BTW). The best explanation I've heard for why this is a risk is "maternal obesity".

Well NO, that didn't apply to me! I was merely 18 years old when I have my first 10 lb baby. I was 115 lbs pre-pregnancy weight and gained 34 lbs. I was not in the least bit overweight. That was 26 years ago. So I have carried that "risk factor" more than half my life and never understood why!

Can anyone give me information on this? Thanks!

[HealthyChocolat]

I just posted on the Introduction thread. I have some risk factors for diabetes which I am confused about. Namely, large birth weight babies.

Okay, I have heard it over and over that having large babies is a risk factor, but I don't understand WHY???

Three of my four children were 9 or 10 lbs at birth. (Big babies run in my husbands family, BTW). The best explanation I've heard for why this is a risk is "maternal obesity".

Well NO, that didn't apply to me! I was merely 18 years old when I have my first 10 lb baby. I was 115 lbs pre-pregnancy weight and gained 34 lbs. I was not in the least bit overweight. That was 26 years ago. So I have carried that "risk factor" more than half my life and never understood why!

Can anyone give me information on this? Thanks!

I never heard of that, large birth weight babies being a risk factor. I'm guessing it would be really about the mother's weight, but doesn't apply in your case?

Who told you that?

[Penny]

The only thing I remember reading about this is that babies that have large birth weight are more at risk for developing Diabetes.

[notme]

Large birth weight babies are an indicator for risk for diabetes. I had five children and I was not obese or even overweight at the start of each pregnancy. All of my children were nine and ten pound babies. I got type one diabetes after the birth of my fifth child at age 31. No type one in my family. My mother also had higher birth weight babies and did not develop diabetes.

[lisalu]

I never heard of that, large birth weight babies being a risk factor. I'm guessing it would be really about the mother's weight, but doesn't apply in your case?

Who told you that?

That is a well known risk factor, you can find it in any list of risk factors (including the American Diabetic Association website). I have known for more than 25 years that my large babies put me at risk, I have just never understood WHY.

[mg_2204]

I have just never understood WHY.

Apparently having big babies shows your body's (mostly your pancreas'!!!) inability to cope. Therefore you are at risk of developping diabetes later on because of that inability to cope.

Proud mother of 3 kids here, 8 1/2 lbs (at 40 weeks), 11 lbs (38 weeks), and 9 1/2 lbs (37 weeks) and on insulin for that one. It shows how much my body just couldn't cope... And surely enough, in my case, after the birth of my last child I stayed in the 'grey' area for at least a year and later became diabetic.

[BlueSky]

This is my take on it ...

Diabetics usually have big babies. And the wose blood glucose is controlled, the bigger the baby tends to be. It is easy to understand why - raised glucose in the blood stream provides the baby with extra nutrients, which are used to fuel growth. I guess the converse is that having big babies is a "risk factor" for diabetes. Gestational diabetes, which is quite common, often develops into type 2 diabetes after the birth.

Remember that there can be insulin resistance without blood glucose being raised. So even if blood sugar levels look fine, there can be a problem brewing. Blood glucose is normal, but insulin levels are high. The increased level of insulin is what the mother requires to keep blood sugar normal, but it would make the baby grow faster. Which is why having big babies suggest that the mother may be headed for T2 diabetes.

[lisalu]

Thank you BlueSky for the explanation. Like I said, my first 10 lb baby was born 26 years ago so I've lived with that risk factor for quite some time. Seeing as how I was only 18 at the time, I'm guessing that I must have some inherent risk for Type 2 as opposed to developing a tendency in middle age.

We keep hearing the implications that Type 2 is something we bring upon ourselves by being sedentary and obese. But I don't see how that can apply to a healthy, active teenager which I was when that risk factor first appeared all those years ago.

Although I never developed full blown gestational diabetes during my four pregnancies, I was right on the edge during the last one. That is why I am so concerned about it now.