Using Antidepressants during Pregnancy Might up Obesity, Diabetes Risk in Children

Antidepressant use during pregnancy might up obesity and diabetes risk in children, new study suggests.

The study conducted by researchers at Mc Master University found a correlation between fluxetine use during pregnancy and obesity, diabetes type-2 risk in children.

"Obesity and Type 2 diabetes in children is on the rise and there is the argument that it is related to lifestyle and availability of high calorie foods and reduced physical activity, but our study has found that maternal antidepressant use may also be a contributing factor to the obesity and diabetes epidemic," said the study's senior investigator Alison Holloway, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at McMaster University.

According to researchers, antidepressants are known to raise obesity risk in adults. However little is known about how these drugs affect babies in the womb.

Researchers conducted the study on animal models."We have demonstrated for the first time in an animal model that maternal use of a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, resulted in increased fat accumulation and inflammation in the liver of the adult offspring, raising new concerns about the long-term metabolic complications in children born to women who take SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy," said PhD student Nicole De Long in a news release.

The study was presented at International Society of Endocrinology and The Endocrine Society.

Researchers said that the study findings don't mean that pregnant women diagnosed with depression should stop taking antidepressants. The research indicates that there might be risks associated with antidepressant use that haven't been discovered yet.

Next, researchers plan to study the mechanism that is responsible for this increase in obesity and diabetes risk.

Around 20 percent women in the U.S use antidepressants. A recent study had found no association  between SSRI use in pregnant women and heart problems in children.