"Our research shows that childhood CKD is modestly associated with maternal diabetes and maternal overweight or obesity, with the strongest association between abnormal kidney development and maternal diabetes," says Hsu. "Previous studies have demonstrated that maternal diabetes is associated with an increased risk of general congenital abnormalities. However, with strict control of maternal diabetes, the rate of congenital malformations is similar to that of non-diabetic mothers."

The new results raise the possibility that stricter control of diabetes and weight control during pregnancy could decrease children's risk of developing CKD. "However, this would have to be evaluated in future research," says Hsu.

The study had some limitations related to the fact that it used Washington State birth records linked to a hospital discharge database. As a result, it could only identify children with CKD who were hospitalized and had kidney disease listed in their hospital discharge diagnoses. The study definition of CKD was also broad, and the results are being reanalyzed with a stricter CKD definition. Furthermore, conclusions regarding cause and effect are not possible due to the case control design of the study.

Source: American Society of Nephrology