Body composition, adipocyte size, free fatty acid concentration, and glucose tolerance in children of diabetic pregnancies.

Previous studies show that children of women who are diabetic during pregnancy are more obese and have a higher prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) than children of women who first developed NIDDM greater than 1 yr after the pregnancy (prediabetic mothers) and children of women who have never developed diabetes (nondiabetic mothers). To determine whether lean and obese children of glucose-intolerant pregnancies can be distinguished from similar children of glucose-tolerant pregnancies, we measured body composition, abdominal and gluteal adipocyte size, fasting free fatty acid (FFA), and fasting and stimulated glucose and insulin concentrations during an oral glucose tolerance test in prepubertal children of glucose-intolerant and prediabetic mothers. Each group ranged in adipocity from 6 to 40% body fat. Age, weight, height, and percentage of body fat were similar in the two groups. There were no significant differences in adipocyte size or in glucose, FFA, C-peptide, and insulin concentrations between the groups. The correlation between abdominal adipocyte size and fasting insulin concentration (r = .91 and .18, t = 2.8, P = .01) was stronger in children from glucose-intolerant than from glucose-tolerant pregnancies, respectively. In terms of the parameters we measured, there are no major differences between children of glucose-intolerant and glucose-tolerant pregnancies.