The rate of gestational diabetes appears to have gone up dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study of a single academic center presented at the 2022 ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) Annual Clinical & Scientific Meeting in San Diego, and described in an article at Healio.
Gestational diabetes is diabetes that develops during pregnancy, and usually ends once a pregnancy is over. Women who develop gestational diabetes, though, are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes later on. Researchers have identified several risk factors linked to gestational diabetes — including dietary patterns at the time of conception and in early pregnancy. One study also pointed to the role that gut bacteria may play in the development of gestational diabetes. If you develop gestational diabetes, your diet may also be important when it comes to keeping your blood glucose well controlled. Dietary methods that have been shown to be beneficial for gestational diabetes include carbohydrate counting and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet.
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For the latest study, researchers at the University of Tennessee compared the rates of gestational diabetes during pregnancy at a single center during two different time periods — mostly before the COVID-19 pandemic between January 2019 and May 2020, and during the COVID-19 pandemic between June 2020 and July 2021. Overall, there were 7,653 study participants, and 58.6% of them gave birth during the first time period. The researchers decided to extend the “pre-pandemic” time period through May 2020 because they expected certain effects of the pandemic — for example, psychologic effects of social isolation or worse nutrition — to take some time to develop.
Nearly 40% increase in gestational diabetes during pandemic period
The researchers found that during the pre-pandemic time period, 9% of participants developed gestational diabetes during their pregnancy. During the time period during the pandemic, the rate of diagnosed gestational diabetes increased to 12.5% — representing an increase of 38.9%.
The rate of gestational diabetes was higher during the pandemic even once the researchers controlled for participants’ body-mass index (BMI, a measure of body weight that takes height into account) before pregnancy — a well-known factor in the development of gestational diabetes. Among participants with a BMI indicating a normal body weight, the rate of gestational diabetes increased from 5% to 7.4%. Among participants with a BMI indicating overweight, the rate of gestational diabetes increased from 7.4% to 10.9%. And among participants with a BMI indicating obesity, the rate of gestational diabetes increased from 17.2% to 21.1%.
Even when the researchers controlled for additional factors — taking into account participants’ pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal age, and pregnancy weight gain — women who gave birth during the pandemic were still more likely to have gestational diabetes.
The researchers noted that these findings don’t explain why the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have led to an increase in the rate of gestational diabetes. It’s possible that COVID-19 could have directly led to more cases of gestational diabetes, or that certain policies or social or economic effects related to the pandemic could have led to this increase. Future studies, they said, could try to figure out what has led to this increase in gestational diabetes, as well as whether any interventions like education are effective at reducing the rate of gestational diabetes.
Want to learn more about coronavirus and diabetes? Read our latest COVID-19 updates.
Want to learn more about gestational diabetes? Read “Gestational Diabetes: Are You at Risk?,” “Treating Gestational Diabetes” and “What to Eat If You Have Gestational Diabetes.”
