Maternal obesity increases risk of type 1 diabetes in children

A study of more than 1.2 million children in Sweden has concluded that children of parents with any type of diabetes are more likely to develop type 1 diabetes (T1D), and that maternal overweight and obesity increases the risk of the child developing T1D when neither parent has diabetes. 

The results, published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes), clearly suggest that strategies to reduce overweight and obesity before and during pregnancy could reduce the incidence of T1D, which is currently increasing in children (and especially in younger children) in most countries of the world. The research is by Associate Professor Tahereh Moradi, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues.