Your ZIP code may play a bigger role in your pregnancy health than you think. A new study from the University of Arizona found that pregnant women living in resource-poor neighborhoods were 20% more likely to develop gestational diabetes compared with those in better-resourced areas, highlighting how housing, food access and other community factors can shape health for both mother and baby.
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) affects nearly 8% of pregnancies in the United States, with long-term health risks for both mother and child. In this study, researchers analyzed more than 480,000 births across 15 Arizona counties between 2014 and 2020, combining maternal health information with the Neighborhood Deprivation Index (NDI), which measures factors such as housing quality, poverty levels, education, violence and access to healthy food.
“We compared people who live in highly deprived neighborhoods to those who live in less deprived neighborhoods and looked at the risk of GDM by neighborhood score,” said Melissa Furlong, Ph.D., senior author and assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Arizona. “We found women living in neighborhoods with higher deprivation scores were more likely to have GDM. The results suggest the neighborhood you live in has some influence on your risk for GDM.”
Overall, about 7.8% of women in the study had GDM, similar to national rates. But in neighborhoods with the highest deprivation scores, rates climbed to 12%, and among Native American women, nearly 18%, more than double the overall incidence.
The findings point to the role of social determinants of health in pregnancy outcomes.
“Where you live can influence your health,” Furlong said. “It can impact stress, access to quality food, the ability to interact with the outdoors and exercise — all factors that can affect health.”
While you can’t change your neighborhood overnight, understanding that community factors play a role in pregnancy health can help you take action where possible. If you’re pregnant or planning to be, talk with your health care provider about your risk factors for gestational diabetes and ways to lower them through diet, exercise and regular prenatal care. Supporting local initiatives for better food access and maternal health resources can also make a difference over time.
From a policy standpoint, the researchers said these insights support the need for efforts like expanding access to healthy food, improving housing quality and increasing prenatal care in underserved communities.
The study, published in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.