Pregnant women who are obese could have an increased risk of having a child with kidney and urinary tract problems.
Maternal obesity has been linked with congenital malformations in offspring in the past, so researchers worked to determine if it had an influence on congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT), the American Society of Nephrology reported. These types of abnormalities are seen in about 1 percent of all pregnancies, and account for between 20 to 30 percent of all prenatal abnormalities.
To make their findings the researchers looked at birth-hospital discharge records from Washington State from 2003 to 2012, which encompassed 3,221 cases; they matched this data with healthy controls in a 1-to-4 ratio.
Compared with controls, mothers who gave birth to infants with CAKUT were 1.3 times more likely to be obese. The research team also found a significant trend between the likelihood of CAKUT in children and higher levels of obesity. Being overweight, as opposed to obese, was not associated with a higher rate of these abnormalities in children.
"Our findings add to the public health importance of obesity, particularly as a modifiable risk factor," said study leader Dr. Ian Macumber of Seattle Children's Hospital. "The data supplement the literature regarding obesity's association with congenital abnormalities and highlight the importance of future research needed to clarify the mechanisms of these associations."
The researchers have hypothesized that insulin may play a role in the association between obesity and CAKUT. Pregnant women who are overweight could experience insulin resistance, which is characterized by an reduced ability to respond to the hormone insulin. HealthDay reported.
"Studies like this are really quite important," Dr. David Mendez, an attending physician at the Miami Children's Hospital and a neonatologist told HealthDay.
In the future the researchers hope to follow mothers during pregnancy and track their weight along with the health of their newborns.
The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014.
