NURSEWEEK: Birth defects linked to obesity, diabetes

Birth defects linked to obesity, diabetes

Wire Services
November 1, 2000


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New York. Obese women withType 2 diabetes are about three times more likely than other women to deliver a child with a birth defect, according to the November issue of Epidemiology.

The authors of the study estimate that about 65 percent of major birth defects were caused by the combination of obesity and diabetes.

The most common types of problems were craniofacial and musculoskeletal defects. About 6 percent of all women with Type 2 diabetes gave birth to babies with defects, compared with 1.34 percent of women without diabetes.

The study is based on data from nearly 23,000 women.

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