Reducing intergenerational obesity and diabetes risk
The increase in the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in younger ages suggests the contribution of modifiable exposures beginning very early in life, even before birth. While there is a need for strategies to improve the health of reproductive-age women in order to reduce the intergenerational disease cycle, there is limited comparative evidence for prenatal or preconception interventions. Hence, Katherine A. Sauder et al published a study in Diabetologia journal under the title “Reducing intergenerational obesity and diabetes risk”. The summary of this study is given below:
Objective:
To elaborate on the intergenerational disease cycle with the support of emerging evidence from preconception clinical trials.
Methods:
The guideline was developed from the currently available evidence and scientific and medical knowledge.
Findings:
The study indicates that lifestyle intervention during the preconception stage reduces maternal weight by 3 to 9 kg and improves dysglycaemia before pregnancy. On the other hand, the effects at conception and during the gestation period are relatively unknown.
There is limited evidence studying the impact on offspring outcomes after birth. Prior studies consisted of overweight/obese women with infertility, which limits the generalisability of studies.
Researches encourage future studies with scalable preconception strategies that are beneficial for diverse and under-resourced populations.
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