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The age in which a woman has her first childbirth may increase her risk of developing diabetes, according to a new study.

Korean researchers from Chosun University Hospital in Gwangju looked at data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to find the correlation between age at first childbirth and glucose tolerance status in postmenopausal women.

The findings revealed that the risk of diabetes differed significantly between the subgroups and was increased with earlier age at first childbirth (10.9 percent for women aged ≥30 years and 23.8 percent for those aged ≤19 years), according to Health Day.

Researchers found that women who had their first children at the age of 19 or below were nearly 1,5 times more likely to develop diabetes after accounting for potentially confounding variables, including lifestyle, sociodemographic factors, known diabetes risk factors, and reproductive factors.

However, researchers found no significant associations between age at first childbirth and impaired fasting glucose.

 "In conclusion, age at first childbirth influenced diabetes in postmenopausal women, and adolescent pregnancy was independently associated with a higher risk of diabetes in postmenopausal women," researchers wrote in the study.

The findings were published in the journal Diabetes Care.