38. Relationship between early pregnancy nutrition and abdominal subcutaneous fat

Abstract

Introduction Objective clinical measures of metabolic health during pregnancy would be desirable. As recent work suggests dietary macronutrient balance is important in regulating energy intake and metabolic health the aim of this study was to assess the associations between dietary macronutrient composition and US measures of SAT layers. Method 200 women recruited at 11–14 weeks gestation completed a food frequency questionnaire and measurements were performed on abdominal SAT, dividing it into the two anatomical layers superficial SAT (SSAT) and deep SAT (DSAT), assessing SAT density with US strain elastography. Plausible diets of 185 women were used. Generalised additive models using thin plate regression splines were used to associate intake of dietary protein, carbohydrate and fat (kJ/day) with these measures of SAT. Result Dietary intake did not differ between the body mass index (BMI) categories, except when macronutrients intakes were adjusted for weight. In early pregnancy, there was an association between a high protein, low fat intake diet with increased SSAT thickness. There was no significant association of macronutrient intake with DSAT. When assessing the relationship of SAT density with macronutrient intake there was an association between decreased density of SSAT with low fat intake. There was no association of macronutrients and SAT density in the DSAT. Conclusion Although it is difficult to make assumptions from human studies using dietary recollection and considering a life-time of dietary pattern has contributed to the current body AT, macronutrient balance may have a prominent place in metabolic health, deposition and density of AT and long-term AT distribution. Prospective studies are warranted to investigate whether SAT measures meaningfully reflect macronutrient composition and metabolic health in pregnancy.