Screening and diagnosis of diabetes in children and pregnant women

The incidence and prevalence of diabetes in children has increased in recent decades. The findings of a nationwide screening program in Taiwan show that type 2 diabetes has replaced type 1 diabetes as the leading cause of diabetes in children and adolescents. Important risk factors for diabetes in children are high or low birth weights, obesity, and a family history of diabetes. The incidence of diabetes reaches plateaus during puberty. Therefore, we have developed a strategy to screen seventh-grade children with diabetes based on urinalysis and a risk score. Gestational diabetes is associated with various adverse perinatal outcomes, particularly macrosomia and birth injury, and a higher rate of Cesarean section. The 100 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for gestational diabetes was initially designed to predict maternal diabetes after delivery, and was revised by Carpenter and Coustan to predict adverse fetal outcomes. In 2010, the International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) proposed a 75 g OGTT to define gestational diabetes, resulting in a significant increase in the prevalence of gestational diabetes. Our data suggest that adopting the new IADPSG criteria is reasonable, since they reduce adverse perinatal outcomes and are cost-efficient. ? 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.