Watch VideoDiabetes rates skyrocket for pregnant women
Story By: Bea Karnes
Source: KOAA
The rate of diabetes in reproductive-age women has doubled in the span of just six years. The rise in obesity is a huge factor. And since diabetes causes serious complications in a pregnancy, the researchers say all young women need to be warned.
Grace Montoya is just weeks away from having her second child. She's excited. She's also worried. "I'm diabetic. I wear an insulin pump. And I constantly have to worry about my blood sugar being too high or too low."
Diabetes increases a pregnant woman's risk for having miscarriages, stillbirths, and babies with birth defects.
A new study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente shows a disturbing trend. Dr. Jean Lawrence, a Kaiser Permanente Research Scientist, "What we found from 1999 to 2005 is the proportion of women giving birth that already had diabetes before they were pregnant doubled." Lawrence attributes that doubling of diabetes rates primarily to the rise in obesity, especially among minority women.
Dr. Lawrence, "For Type-2 diabetes, it's most commonly been linked to overweight and obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. About half the African American women and 40% of Hispanic women are obese."
The study looked at every age, race and ethnic group but the biggest jump came in pregnant teenagers, who saw a 500% increase in diabetes rates in just 6 years.
The news is disheartening for Montoya. She had no control over her Type-1 diabetes. But she knows so many women at risk for Type-2 can save themselves a world of future worry, just by exercising and eating right.
Montoya said, "You're at risk, so you have to really keep on top of it."
The study examined the records of over 175,000 women who gave birth at 11 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Southern California. Two-thirds of all adults, and 15-million children in the U.S. are obese or overweight.
