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

BACKGROUND: 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. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.