Jun 22, 2014 11:18 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

The offspring of women who take antidepressants during pregnancy are more likely to be obese and have type 2 diabetes, according to a recent study.

Researchers from McMaster University in Canada found a correlation between the use of the medication fluoxetine during pregnancy and an increased risk of obesity and diabetes in children. Currently, up to 20 percent of woman in the United States and approximately seven per cent of Canadian women are prescribed an antidepressant during pregnancy.

"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," Alison Holloway, the study's senior investigator and an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at McMaster University, said in a statement.

Previous studies have found that pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to depression and it is estimated that up to one in five pregnant women have symptoms of depression during pregnancy.

Holloway said that while it is known that these drugs can increase the risk of obesity in adults, it is unknown whether a woman's antidepressant use during pregnancy increases the risk of metabolic disturbances in her children.

"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," PhD student Nicole De Long, who presented this research on June 22nd at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and The Endocrine Society, said in a statement.

Holloway said the study does not suggest women should avoid taking antidepressants during pregnancy, only that there may be risks associated with antidepressants that haven't been previously identified.

"The benefit of the study is it may help in the identification of a high-risk group of children who may require specific interventions to prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life," she said.

The next stage of their research will be to understand the mechanistic pathways behind why these drugs pose a risk. 

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