SynthesisBMC pediatrics2025
Is maternal diabetes during pregnancy associated with neurodevelopmental, cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children? Insights from individual participant data meta-analysis in ten birth cohorts.
Synthesis in BMC pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Preexisting diabetes and gestational diabetes as risk factors for autism spectrum disorder: an umbrella review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Evaluation of fetal frontal lobe development and Evans index in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus: prospective comparative observational study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Observational
- Maternal vitamin D status modifies the association between GDM and offspring neurodevelopment: a prospective birth cohort study.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Longitudinal developmental profiles in 4- to 5-year-old Dutch children: a latent profile analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Maternal congenital heart disease and risk of child developmental vulnerability in early school age: A population-based cohort study.PLoS medicine · 2026Article
- Maternal Glucose Metabolism and Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Offspring: Modification by Erythrocyte Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Intrauterine gestational diabetes mellitus, child anxiety, and internalizing symptoms: moderation by physical activity.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2026Article
- GDM-Related Neurodevelopmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders in the Mothers and Their Progeny, and the Underlying Mechanisms.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Maternal Diabetes and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Association: A Narrative Review on Emerging Evidence, Research Gaps and Future Directions.International journal of general medicine · 2026Review
- Gestational diabetes and its influence on early neurodevelopment in infants: a retrospective analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Infants exposed to maternal type 1 diabetes: intrauterine epigenetic modifications and neurological development.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Gestational Diabetes and Obesity: Immediate and Late Sequelae for Offspring.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
25 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGrowing evidence shows that dysregulated metabolic intrauterine environments can affect offspring's neurodevelopment and behaviour. However, the results of individual cohort studies have been inconsistent. We aimed to investigate the association between maternal diabetes before pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with neurodevelopmental, cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children.
methodsHarmonised data from > 200 000 mother-child pairs across ten birth cohorts in Europe and Australia were available. Mother-child pairs were included for analysis to determine whether GDM was recorded (yes or no) and whether at least one neurodevelopmental, cognitive and behavioural outcome was available in children aged 3 to 13 years. Confounder-adjusted regression models were used to estimate associations between maternal diabetes and child outcomes using two-stage individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. Model 1 included a crude estimate. The full adjustment model (model 2) included adjustment for child sex, maternal age, pre-pregnancy BMI, pregnancy weight gain, maternal smoking during pregnancy, plurality, parity and maternal education.
resultsChildren (aged 7-10 years) born to mothers with GDM had higher attention-deficient hyperactive disorder (ADHD) symptoms compared to non-exposed controls (model 2, regression coefficient (β) 3.67 (95% CI 1.13, 6.20), P = 0.001). Moreover, children (aged 4-6 years) born to mothers with GDM exhibited more externalising problems than those born to mothers without GDM (model 2, β 2.77 (95% CI 0.52, 5.02), P = 0.01). A pre-existing maternal history of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus was associated with ADHD symptoms at 4-6 years (model 1, β 8.82 (95% CI 2.21, 15.45, P = 0.009) and β 7.90 (95% CI 0.82, 14.98, P = 0.02), respectively). The association was no longer apparent in further adjustments.
conclusionsThis study found that children between 4 - 6 and 7-10 years of age born to mothers with GDM have a greater likelihood of developing externalising problems and ADHD symptoms, respectively. Externalising problems often co-exist with ADHD symptoms and precede formal ADHD diagnosis. Overall, this large-scale multi-cohort study suggested that a dysregulated metabolic environment during pregnancy may contribute to ADHD symptoms and externalising problems in young children.
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