Study Finds Moms with Diabetes More Likely to Have Kids with ADHD

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Being born to a mother with gestational diabetes could increase a child’s risk of developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a new study.

An analysis of data from more than 200,000 mother-child pairs, the study found children born to mothers with gestational diabetes experienced higher ADHD symptom scores during childhood, including hyperactivity; trouble focusing; and, in some children, behavioral issues, such as aggression.

“At younger ages, children may exhibit more externalizing problems and as the child matures, symptoms or behavior related to ADHD may become more apparent. ADHD does not have biological markers for diagnosis, making ADHD a disorder that is difficult to detect before symptoms manifest,” said Rae-Chi Huang, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., a pediatric physician at the Kids Research Institute Australia, in a news release. “However, our findings suggest that these externalizing behaviors may decrease over time but could extend into other domains such as neurodevelopment outcomes such as ADHD symptoms.”

Gestational diabetes is a common pregnancy complication, affecting between 2% and 10% of pregnancies in the United States each year, according to data from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. It occurs when the body can’t produce enough insulin during pregnancy, leading to high blood sugar levels that can impact both mother and baby.

ADHD is one of the most diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders in children. About 11.3% of U.S. children ages 5 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to national data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While these two conditions may seem unrelated, growing research suggests that exposure to certain conditions in the womb — like gestational diabetes — may influence a child’s brain development and risk for ADHD.

In the current study, Huang and a team of researchers from Edith Cowan University looked at whether diabetes in mothers — either before pregnancy or during pregnancy — is linked to behavior and attention problems in their children. Researchers used data from over 200,000 mothers and their children across 10 studies in Europe and Australia.

They found that children between ages 7 and 10 whose mothers had gestational diabetes during pregnancy showed more symptoms of ADHD than those whose mothers did not. Specifically, these children scored 3.67 points higher on ADHD symptom scales, which means they showed noticeably more signs of hyperactivity and trouble focusing. Based on statistical analysis, investigators determined this is unlikely due to chance.

Children between ages 4 and 6 whose mothers had gestational diabetes also showed more behavior issues, such as acting out or aggression. Their scores were 2.77 points higher than those of children not exposed to gestational diabetes.

The study also found that children of mothers with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes before pregnancy had even higher ADHD symptom scores at ages 4 to 6 years, with these scores being 8.82 and 7.90 points higher, respectively. However, the researchers pointed out these links were less clear after adjusting for other factors like maternal health and lifestyle.

“Several studies suggest that the severity of maternal diabetes, associated with maternal obesity, [and] chronic inflammation have a joint impact on the development of autism spectrum disorder and ADHD in children, which is greater than the impact of either condition alone,” said Rachelle Pretorius, Ph.D., a nutrition researcher and lecturer at Murdoch University, and the first author of the study.