Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol 3, Issue 1 75-83, Copyright © 1984 by American College of Nutrition

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Infant adiposity and maternal energy consumption in well-controlled diabetics

P. A. Wurster, N. K. Kochenour and M. R. Thomas

This study was designed to determine the relationship of maternal diet and infant adiposity in well-controlled diabetics. The relationship between the fat consumption pattern of the pregnant diabetic and the adiposity of her infant was investigated. Length, weight, and head circumference; triceps, subscapular, and anterior thigh skinfolds; and subcutaneous fat layer were obtained on ten infants of diabetic mothers and ten infants of nondiabetic mothers. Measurements were taken at 48 h, 2 weeks, and 1 month postpartum. Maternal dietary intakes were recorded for 6 days during the third trimester of pregnancy. Infants of diabetic mothers and infants of nondiabetic mothers exhibited differences in birth length, 2-week and 1-month head circumference, 2-week triceps skinfold thickness, and fat layer. However, measurements differing at birth were not consistant with those differing at repeated measurements throughout the first month of life. Only the dietary intake of linoleic acid as a percentage of energy intake differed between the two groups of women. The diabetic women consumed more linoleic acid. The fat consumption pattern in the pregnant diabetic was unrelated to the subsequent anthropometric measurements of her infant. The well-controlled diabetics in this study did not have large-for-gestational-age infants.