Table 1 Clinical characteristics of the controls and GDM subjects in index pregnancy and at the follow-up study stratified according to the offspring’s birth weight

Number of subjects

286

376

48

68

 Age (yrs)

29.5 ± 5.4

31.8 ± 6.0**

30.6 ± 5.0

32.6 ± 6.3**

 Primiparity (%)

53.0

35.0**

34.1*

22.2**

 Pre-pregnancy BMI (kg/m²)

23.8 ± 3.8

26.4 ± 5.0**

25.7 ± 3.5*

26.7 ± 4.1**

 Family history of diabetes (%)

69.4

81.4**

75.0

80.9

 Prior child’s birth weight > 4000 g (%)

25.4

25.6

43.8*

60.4**

 Prior spontaneous abortion (%)

16.8

19.9

18.8

35.3*

 Prior cesarean section (%)

5.9

9.6

16.7

7.4

 Gestational age (d)

280 ± 11

279 ± 9

279 ± 11

278 ± 8

 Pre-eclampsia (%)

1.4

5.3*

2.1

5.9*

 Birth weight (g)

3595 ± 385

3596 ± 406

4365 ± 424**

4421 ± 370**

 Placental-fetal mass ratio (%)

17.1 ± 3.0

17.5 ± 3.0

20.6 ± 15.8**

17.9 ± 2.5*

 Low Apgar score 1 min < 7 (%)

1.7

5.9*

6.3

4.4

 Follow-up time (yrs)

8.5 ± 5.5

5.3 ± 4.3**

7.4 ± 5.4

6.2 ± 4.9*

 Age at follow-up (yrs)

38.4 ± 6.4

37.4 ± 7.2

38.3 ± 5.8

39.1 ± 7.5

 BMI (kg/m²)

26.5 ± 4.9

28.3 ± 5.7**

27.9 ± 4.8*

29.2 ± 4.9**

 Weight gain during the follow-up time (kg)

5.7 ± 7.6

3.6 ± 7.9

4.3 ± 7.6

5.6 ± 9.3