Weight gain during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, could increase women’s risk of developing diabetes later in their pregnancy, according to a new study. The study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research appears online in the current issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The three-year study of 1,145 pregnant women from an ethnically diverse population found that women who gained more weight than is recommended by the Institute of Medicine had a 50 per cent increased risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus, also known as GDM. More...