Gestational diabetes rose every single year in the U.S. from 2016 through 2024, according to a new Northwestern Medicine analysis of more than 12 million U.S. births. The condition, which raises health risks for both mother and baby, shot up 36% over the nine-year period (from 58 to 79 cases per 1,000 births) and increased across every racial and ethnic group.
The findings update the research team’s earlier work covering 2011–2019, confirming nearly 15 years of uninterrupted increases. The researchers say the trend likely reflects worsening health among young Americans.
For the study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the Northwestern scientists analyzed every U.S. birth for first singleton pregnancies from 2016 to 2024, using birth certificate data from the National Center for Health Statistics. They then broke down the data by race and ethnicity, revealing the following for women with gestational diabetes per 1,000 births:
- 137 per 1,000 – American Indian/Alaska Native
- 131 per 1,000 – Asian
- 126 per 1,000 – Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
- 85 per 1,000 – Hispanic
- 71 per 1,000 – White
- 67 per 1,000 – Black
Although gestational diabetes increased across the board, the results do show women who are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or from other Pacific Islander groups had substantially higher gestational diabetes rates compared with other groups.
“This is particularly important because these populations tend to be the least well-represented in health research, so we actually understand very little about why these groups have such high rates,” said senior author Dr. Nilay Shah, assistant professor of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “These data clearly show that we are not doing enough to support the health of the U.S. population, especially young women before and during pregnancy. Public health and policy interventions should focus on helping all people access high-quality care and have the time and means to maintain healthful behaviors.”
Data from Northwestern University