Pregnant persons should dim the lights in their home and turn off or at least dim their screens (computer monitors and smartphones) a few hours before bedtime to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, a new Northwestern Medicine study shows.
Women who developed gestational diabetes mellitus in the multi-site study had greater light exposure in the three hours before sleep onset. They did not differ in their light exposure during daytime or sleep or in their activity levels compared to those who did not develop it.
“Our study suggests that light exposure before bedtime may be an under-recognized yet easily modifiable risk factor of gestational diabetes,” said lead study author Dr. Minjee Kim, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine neurologist.
Growing evidence suggests exposure to light at night before bedtime may be linked to impaired glucose regulation in non-pregnant adults. However, little is known about the effect of evening light exposure during pregnancy on the risk of developing gestational diabetes, a common pregnancy complication with significant health implications for both mother and offspring.
This is believed to be one of the first multi-site studies to examine light exposure before sleep on the risk of developing gestational diabetes.
The study was published March 10 in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Maternal Fetal Medicine.
