Having children appears to increase the chances of developing diabetes and the risk seems to grow greater with every pregnancy, researchers report.

A study involving 1,186 women conducted at the University of California-San Diego found the risk of developing non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM) appears to increase 16 percent with each pregnancy."We conclude that there is a slight increase in the risk of NIDDM," the researchers wrote in reporting the findings in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers stressed, however, that the findings should not discourage women from having children.

"It's a very small risk," said Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, who led the study. "It's not enough to do family planning by."

The primary importance of the findings is that they may provide a clue to the underlying causes of diabetes, said Barrett-Connor.

But Maureen Harris, director of the National Diabetes Data Group at the National Institutes of Health, said the findings suggest women who have children should take extra precautions to reduce their diabetes risk.

View Comments

"If this finding is true, the woman (who has children) should recognize she is at greater risk of developing diabetes and should consider modifying her other risk factors, primarily body weight," Harris said.

About 18 percent of U.S. women develop NIDDM, commonly called Type 2 diabetes, by age 74.

Previous studies had indicated pregnancy may be linked to an increased risk for diabetes. But it was unclear whether the association was due to pregnancy itself or weight gain that often accompanies pregnancy, Barrett-Connor said.

In the new study, researchers took excess weight into consideration and found the association was independent of obesity, she said.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.