Type 2 Diabetes - Is Diabetes in the Mother Linked to ADHD in Her Children?

Type 2 Diabetes - Is Diabetes in the Mother Linked to ADHD in Her Children?

A study reported in October 2018 in the journalDiabetic carehas linked type 1 and type 2 diabetes, along with gestational or gestational diabetes in mothers, to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in their children. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente of Southern California in Pasadena (USA) and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (USA) found that the risk of ADHD is higher in children whose mothers were treated for diabetes during pregnancy than in children whose mothers had a healthy pregnancy.

The records of a total of 333,182 infants were reviewed starting at age four. In the following five years, 17,415 children, or 5.2 percent, were diagnosed with ADHD...

• Children of mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes and treated with anti-diabetes medications were 57 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than children of non-diabetic mothers.

• The children of mothers who received medical treatment for type 1 diabetes had a 43 percent higher risk of developing ADHD and these

• Children whose mothers required medication for type 2 diabetes during their pregnancy were 26 percent more likely to develop the disease.

The researchers concluded that severe diabetes in pregnant women increases the risk of ADHD in their children.

Previous studies have found similar results.The magazine was published in September 2018Pediatricsreported a study in which maternal obesity and diabetes increased their children's risk not only of ADHD but also of several other disorders...

• autism spectrum disorder,

• behavioral disorder and

• mixed emotional and behavioral disorder.

Another article published in the same month in theMagazine for child psychology and psychiatry,linked maternal diet during pregnancy, a major factor associated with gestational diabetes and blood sugar levels, to ADHD at ages 3 to 8 years.

Researchers at the University of Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France,At several other research facilities in France and Singapore, 1,242 mothers and their children were examined. The children of mothers who ate unhealthy or Western foods were more than 60 percent more likely to develop ADHD than children whose mothers reported eating healthy foods.

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains and low in highly processed foods, meat, and dairy products is helpful in preventing or controlling both type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. This could probably also help prevent problems for children of diabetic mothers.

Inspired by Beverleigh H Piepers