The relationship between lifestyle and metabolic evaluation in women with a history of gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes is one of the most common metabolic diseases during pregnancy. The risk of a lifestyle role in the prevention of metabolic syndrome in women with a history of gestational diabetes has now been identified. The present study was performed to investigate the relationship between lifestyle and metabolic syndrome in women with a history of gestational diabetes.

The present study was a retrospective case–control study that was performed on 90 women (45 women with a history of gestational diabetes and 45 women without a history of gestational diabetes) in Kerman health centers 5 years after delivery in 2020. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and a standardized Walker lifestyle Health promoting Lifestyle profile II questionnaire. The reference laboratory was also used to perform the experiments. SPSS21 software and Spearman’s and Chi‑square tests were used to analyze the data.

The mean age was 35.67 in the case group and 34.27 in the control group (P = 0.230). Lifestyle did not show any difference between the two groups (P = 0.058). However, metabolic evaluation was different in the two groups (P = 0.030). Furthermore, the results of Spearman’s test to examine the relationship between lifestyle and other variables studied showed that in the case group (P = 0.075) and in the control group (P = 0.819) there was no relationship between lifestyle and metabolic assessments 5 years after delivery.

In case group women, it is possible to prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes and disturb the metabolic assessment by teaching a healthy lifestyle and timely follow‑up after delivery. A history of gestational diabetes can be one of the causes of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Getting training to change your lifestyle during pregnancy and postpartum can reduce the incidence of gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Screening pregnant women during childbirth is a good opportunity to diagnose diabetes early and predict it in the coming years.