US sees 30% increase in gestational diabetes over 5 years
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From 2016 to 2020, the rate of gestational diabetes rose by 30% among women giving birth in the United States, from 6% in 2016 to 7.8% in 2020, according to data from the National Vital Statistics Reports.
Elizabeth C.W. Gregory, MPH, and Danielle M. Ely, PhD, both of the Division of Vital Statistics, conducted the report to determine trends for gestational diabetes among women giving birth in the United States from 2016 to 2020, as well as gestational diabetes rates by selected maternal and newborn characteristics for 2016, 2019 and 2020.
The researchers used data from birth certificates, which were based on 100% of births registered in the United States for 2016 to 2020.
“A primary advantage of birth certificate data is that information is collected on all women giving birth in the United States each year, allowing for analysis of both national trends and trends for smaller population groups, such as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander subgroups,” Gregory and Ely wrote.
The average annual percent change from 2016 to 2019 was 5%, and the largest annual change occurred from 2019 to 2020 (13%).
“The larger than average increase in gestational diabetes during 2019 to 2020 may be related, in part, to changes observed in the general and at-risk populations (including pregnant women), such as decreased physical activity, weight gain and other lifestyle factors that are known to impact gestational diabetes,” the researchers wrote.
In addition, for 2020, the gestational diabetes rate differed depending on maternal race and ethnicity. Specifically, for the six largest race and Hispanic-origin groups, the rate was highest for non-Hispanic Asian women (14.9%) and lowest for non-Hispanic Black women (6.5%).
Researchers also noted differences in gestational diabetes rate among the Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander subgroups. Factors that elevated gestational diabetes rate included increasing maternal age, prepregnancy BMI and number of fetuses in the pregnancy.
In state-based 2020 data, the gestational diabetes rate ranged from 4.7% in Mississippi to 12.6% in Alaska.
“Gestational diabetes is a common complication in pregnancy that can lead to negative health outcomes for both mothers and infants,” Gregory and Ely wrote.
“Despite concerns with potential reporting issues, trends and patterns in the gestational diabetes rate shown in this report are generally consistent with those of other studies, and these data provide opportunities to examine gestational diabetes among a large population of women giving birth in the United States.”
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