Risk of childhood diabetes rises with increasing maternal age at delivery

The incidence of childhood diabetes continues to increase across Europe. The trend for women to have their first baby later could be a factor in this. Bingley et al (p 420) studied probands with diabetes and their siblings in 1375 families. Maternal age at delivery was strongly related to risk of diabetes in the offspring, such that risk increased by 25% for every five year increment in maternal age. A mother aged 45 years or more at delivery was 3.1 times more likely to have a child with diabetes than a mother aged less than 20 years. Paternal age was also associated but less strongly. Multivariate analysis showed that adjusted risk of diabetes was greatest in firstborn children and decreased progressively with increasing birth order. According to this model, changes in maternal age at first delivery could account for an 11% increase in the incidence of diabetes in children born since 1970. Since the observed increase is much greater than this, other factors must also be involved.

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Relevant Article

Influence of maternal age at delivery and birth order on risk of type 1 diabetes in childhood: prospective population based family study

Polly J Bingley, Isabelle F Douek, Christine A Rogers, and Edwin A M Gale
BMJ 2000 321: 420-424. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]