Maternal Early-Life Risk Factors and Later Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the UAE Healthy Future Study (UAEHFS)

Nirmin F. Juber (), Abdishakur Abdulle, Abdulla AlJunaibi, Abdulla AlNaeemi, Amar Ahmad, Andrea Leinberger-Jabari, Ayesha S. Al Dhaheri, Eiman AlZaabi, Fatima Mezhal, Fatma Al-Maskari, Fatme AlAnouti, Habiba Alsafar, Juma Alkaabi, Laila Abdel Wareth, Mai Aljaber, Marina Kazim, Michael Weitzman, Mohammad Al-Houqani, Mohammed Hag Ali, Naima Oumeziane, Omar El-Shahawy, Scott Sherman, Sharifa AlBlooshi, Syed M. Shah, Tom Loney, Wael Almahmeed, Youssef Idaghdour and Raghib Ali
Additional contact information
Nirmin F. Juber: Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates
Abdishakur Abdulle: Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates
Abdulla AlJunaibi: Department of Pediatrics, Zayed Military Hospital, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 72763, United Arab Emirates
Abdulla AlNaeemi: Department of Cardiology, Zayed Military Hospital, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 72763, United Arab Emirates
Amar Ahmad: Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates
Andrea Leinberger-Jabari: Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates
Ayesha S. Al Dhaheri: Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al-Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Eiman AlZaabi: Department of Pathology, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 11001, United Arab Emirates
Fatima Mezhal: Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates
Fatma Al-Maskari: Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al-Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Fatme AlAnouti: College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 144534, United Arab Emirates
Habiba Alsafar: Center for Biotechnology, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 127788, United Arab Emirates
Juma Alkaabi: Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al-Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Laila Abdel Wareth: The National Reference Laboratory, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 92323, United Arab Emirates
Mai Aljaber: Healthpoint Hospital, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 112308, United Arab Emirates
Marina Kazim: Abu Dhabi Blood Bank Services, SEHA, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 109090, United Arab Emirates
Michael Weitzman: Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
Mohammad Al-Houqani: Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al-Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Mohammed Hag Ali: Faculty of Health Sciences, Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 25026, United Arab Emirates
Naima Oumeziane: Abu Dhabi Blood Bank Services, SEHA, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 109090, United Arab Emirates
Omar El-Shahawy: Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
Scott Sherman: Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
Sharifa AlBlooshi: College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Dubai P.O. Box 19282, United Arab Emirates
Syed M. Shah: Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, Al-Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Tom Loney: College of Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dubai P.O. Box 505055, United Arab Emirates
Wael Almahmeed: Heart and Vascular Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 112412, United Arab Emirates
Youssef Idaghdour: Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates
Raghib Ali: Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 129188, United Arab Emirates

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: Limited studies have focused on maternal early-life risk factors and the later development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We aimed to estimate the GDM prevalence and examine the associations of maternal early-life risk factors, namely: maternal birthweight, parental smoking at birth, childhood urbanicity, ever-breastfed, parental education attainment, parental history of diabetes, childhood overall health, childhood body size, and childhood height, with later GDM. This was a retrospective cross-sectional study using the UAE Healthy Future Study (UAEHFS) baseline data (February 2016 to April 2022) on 702 ever-married women aged 18 to 67 years. We fitted a Poisson regression to estimate the risk ratio (RR) for later GDM and its 95% confidence interval (CI). The GDM prevalence was 5.1%. In the fully adjusted model, females with low birthweight were four times more likely (RR 4.04, 95% CI 1.36–12.0) and females with a parental history of diabetes were nearly three times more likely (RR 2.86, 95% CI 1.10–7.43) to report later GDM. In conclusion, maternal birthweight and parental history of diabetes were significantly associated with later GDM. Close glucose monitoring during pregnancy among females with either a low birth weight and/or parental history of diabetes might help to prevent GDM among this high-risk group.

Keywords: gestational diabetes mellitus; pregnancy; maternal early-life factor; epidemiology; United Arab Emirates; UAE healthy future study; GDM; UAE; UAEHFS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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