Thursday 8 September 2022 10:55 PM Children born from obese pregnant women are TWICE as likely to suffer from ... trends now

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Expecting mothers who are obese are putting their children at an increased risk of suffering from attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), a new study finds.

Researchers at MútuaTerrassa University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, found that women who suffer obesity - whether related to pregnancy-induced diabetes or because of rapid weight gain early in the first trimester - are more likely to have a child with ADHD.

Children born from obese mothers were twice as likely to develop ADHD. Researchers note that nearly one third of women are obese at their first doctors visit related to the pregnancy, and half of women who suffer from gestational diabetes.

Rates of ADHD among American youth have increased in recent years. While no studies have directly tied that phenomena to the nation's growing obesity crisis, it is possible that the two situations are linked.

'Our study found pregnant women with obesity and gestational diabetes had children with long-term mental health disorders such as ADHD,' Veronica Perea, a researcher who also works at the hospital, said.

'We did not find this association when these women gained a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy.' 

The researchers, who published their findings Thursday in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, gathered data from 1,036 women who were born with gestational diabetes.

The common condition occurs when a woman suffers a form of type 1 diabetes while they are pregnant.

It is caused by the body being unable to produce enough insulin for the body while the mother is expecting.