Diabetes in pregnancy not a health motivator

Developing diabetes during pregnancy doesn’t seem to prompt women to take better care of themselves. Women who have diabetes during pregnancy have leass healthy diets, and are also more likely to smoke than women who have diabetes-free pregnancies, according to a major study .
Gestational diabetes is increasingly common, with up to 1 in ten women affected. Usually the condition disappears after pregnancy, yet over 50 per cent of women who suffer from GD will develop full blown type 2 diabetes within five years.
The study, published in leading journal diabetes care, was carried out by Dr. Efith C. Kieffer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Using data from 177,240 women aged between 18 and 44, the team made some startling findings.
The women who developed diabetes in pregnancy were found to be less educated, more likely to be obese and even rated their personal health worse than those who did not have diabetes.
The DPP (Diabetes Prevention Program), an intervention system designed to help women who have gestational diabetes developing type 2 has been successful, yet the problem continues. Speaking on the topic, one doctor said: “Despite the success of the DPP in preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes in women with a history of gestational diabetes, many women may be unaware of their risk for future diabetes, and others do not take steps to reduce their risks.”