Postnatal trends of surrogate anthropometric indices in infants of diabetic mothers: A prospective cohort study from South India

BackgroundInfants of diabetic mothers (IDMs) are shown to have predisposition for obesity and metabolic complications in childhood and adolescence. While several studies found growth differences in IDMs during childhood, data on growth in early infancy are scarce. This study aimed to assess the surrogate anthropometric parameters which evaluate physical growth in more detail during first 6 weeks of life in IDMs.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted among late preterm and term IDMs with infants of non-diabetic mothers taken as controls. Basic demographics, delivery characteristics, maternal anthropometry and birth anthropometry including auxologic parameters were recorded postnatally. Follow-up measurements were taken till 6 weeks. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA.ResultsIDMs showed higher weight for length at 6 weeks and higher BMI at birth and at 6 weeks of age. MUAC was significant at birth but not at 6 weeks age. Birth weight and large-for-gestational age were significantly higher in diabetic group. At 6 weeks, 14% of infants of diabetic mothers were overweight, though not statistically significant.ConclusionThe IDMs seemed to have significant difference in their auxologic parameters and had greater prevalence of overweight in early postnatal period as early as at 6 weeks postnatal age in this study albeit small sample size. Close monitoring of growth and metabolic parameters in infants of diabetic mothers in larger sample sizes are necessary for better monitoring for complications and better long-term outcomes as their body composition possibly seems to differ from those of IDMs in early infancy.