Abstract

BackgroundFew studies have explored the relationship between food habits and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in women from India. We aimed to investigate the associations of food habits and the risk of GDM.MethodsAs part of the MAASTHI prospective cohort study in urban Bengaluru, India, pregnant women between 18 and 45 years, less than 36 weeks of gestation were included. During baseline, the participant’s age, education, physical activity levels, and food habits were recorded. Screening of GDM was done by the World Health Organization diagnostic criteria using a 2-h 75-g oral glucose tolerance test between the 24th–36th weeks of gestation.ResultsWe included 1777 pregnant women in the study. We show that 17.6% of the women had GDM, of which 76.7% consume red meat. Red meat consumption was associated with an increased risk of GDM (aRR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.5, 2.9) after adjusting for age, family history of diabetes and socioeconomic status.ConclusionThe high intake of red meat consumption in pregnancy needs further examination. Also, future evaluations should consider evaluating the risk of red meat consumption against the combined effect of inadequate consumption of vegetables, fruits, and dairy products in pregnant women. Interventions to educate women in lower socioeconomic status on inexpensive, seasonal, and healthy food might be helpful.

Highlights

  • Few studies have explored the relationship between food habits and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in women from India

  • We found that socioeconomic status of women and having a family history of diabetes mellitus was statistically significant with GDM

  • The results reveal that eating red meat more than thrice a week is statistically significant (aRR = 2.1; even after adjusting for other factors namely age, family history of diabetes mellitus, socioeconomic class, body mass index (BMI), the sum of skinfold thickness, metabolic equivalent of task (MET) and gestational age

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Summary

Introduction

Few studies have explored the relationship between food habits and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in women from India. Among other modifiable risk factors of GDM, tackling obesity is essential; even moderate changes in pre-pregnancy weight have shown to affect the risk of gestational diabetes among obese women [5, 15,16,17]. Low birth weight and subsequent risk of non-communicable diseases have been associated with maternal diets that are poor in micronutrients [21]. Lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise and diet composition are modifiable predictors of risk for abnormal glucose tolerance during pregnancy. In the Indian context, identifying nutritional risk factors will enable us to screen and prevent GDM in this setting

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