Abstract
Poor diet quality is a major cause of maternal obesity. We aimed to investigate a priori and a-posteriori derived dietary patterns in childbearing-aged women in UK. An online survey assessed food intake, physical activity (PA), anthropometry and socio-demographics. An a priori defined diet quality was determined via Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence score and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) derived dietary patterns (DPs). Multiple linear regression explored associations between DPs with anthropometric measures, PA and socio-demographics. Participants (n = 123) had low-to-medium MD adherence (average MD-score: 4.0 (2.0)). Age was positively associated with higher MD adherence (X2 (2) = 13.14, p = 0.01). EFA revealed three DPs: ‘fruits, nuts, vegetables and legumes’ (“Vegetarian-style” DP); ‘sweets, cereals, dairy products and potatoes’ (“Dairy, sweets and starchy foods” DP); and ‘eggs, seafood and meats’ (“Protein-rich” DP). “Vegetarian-style” DP was positively associated with higher maternal educational level (p < 0.01) and PA (p = 0.01), but negatively with white ethnicity (p < 0.01). “Dairy, sweets and starchy foods” DP was positively associated with white ethnicity (p = 0.03) and negatively with age (p = 0.03). “Protein-rich” DP was positively associated with age (p < 0.001) and negatively with PA (p = 0.01). A poor diet quality was found among childbearing-aged women; notably in the younger age category, those of white ethnicity, that were more physically inactive and with a lower socioeconomic background.
Highlights
Obesity rates have been continuously growing in the last decade leading to adversely impact public health worldwide [1]
The assessment of Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence showed that low to medium diet quality was highly prevalent among study participants; 39% of women had low MD adherence compared to 21% who had high MD
Diet quality analysis has been recently trending in nutrition epidemiology research, since it permits the measurement of diet as a whole and describes the food intake of free-living individuals
Summary
Obesity rates have been continuously growing in the last decade leading to adversely impact public health worldwide [1]. In 2016, more than 1.9 billion individuals aged 18 years and above were overweight (39% of males and 40% of females) and more than 650 million were obese Evidence indicates that increased obesity is directly linked with chronic diseases, such as Cardiovascular disease (CVD), Type-two diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cancer, hypertension and increased inflammation [3,4]. Obesity during pregnancy is a serious condition that affects both the mother and the offspring [5] and can cause gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, still birth, caesarean section and congenital abnormalities of the offspring [6,7]. Recent statistics of maternal mortality in the United Kingdom showed that 209 women died during and one month after pregnancy due to obesity-related complications such as heart diseases, blood clots and strokes [8].
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