A High Adherence to Six Food Targets of the Mediterranean Diet in the Late First Trimester is Associated with a Reduction in the Risk of Materno-Foetal Outcomes: The St. Carlos Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Prevention Study

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 66
• Main Authors: Assaf-Balut, Carla, García de la Torre, Nuria, Fuentes, Manuel, Durán, Alejandra, Bordiú, Elena, Del Valle, Laura, Valerio, Johanna, Jiménez, Inés, Herraiz, Miguel Angel, Izquierdo, Nuria, Torrejón, María José, de Miguel, María Paz, Barabash, Ana, Cuesta, Martín, Rubio, Miguel Angel, Calle-Pascual, Alfonso Luis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 31-12-2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Birth weight; Body weight; Cereals; Clinical trials; Compliance; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes, Gestational - prevention & control; Diet; Diet - adverse effects; Diet, Mediterranean; dietary patterns; Fats; Female; Fruits; Gestational diabetes; Humans; Hypertension; Legumes; Maternal Exposure - adverse effects; Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; maternofoetal outcomes; Meat; MedDiet; nutrition; Nutrition research; Nuts; Obstetrics; Preeclampsia; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimester, First; Prenatal Care - methods; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - etiology; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - prevention & control; Prevention; Risk Factors; Systematic review; Urinary tract; Vegetables; Womens health; Spain; nutrition; MedDiet; maternofoetal outcomes; gestational diabetes; dietary patterns; pregnancy
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu11010066

A prenatal diet affects materno-foetal outcomes. This is a post hoc analysis of the St. Carlos gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) Prevention Study. It aims to evaluate the effect of a late first-trimester (>12 gestational weeks) degree of adherence to a MedDiet pattern-based on six food targets-on a composite of materno-foetal outcomes (CMFCs). The CMFCs were defined as having emergency C-section, perineal trauma, pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia, prematurity, large-for-gestational-age, and/or small-for-gestational-age. A total of 874 women were stratified into three groups according to late first-trimester compliance with six food targets: >12 servings/week of vegetables, >12 servings/week of fruits, <2 servings/week of juice, >3 servings/week of nuts, >6 days/week consumption of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), and ≥40 mL/day of EVOO. High adherence was defined as complying with 5⁻6 targets; moderate adherence 2⁻4 targets; low adherence 0⁻1 targets. There was a linear association between high, moderate, and low adherence, and a lower risk of GDM, CMFCs, urinary tract infections (UTI), prematurity, and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) newborns (all
< 0.05). The odds ratios (95% CI) for GDM and CMFCs in women with a high adherence were 0.35((0.18⁻0.67),
= 0.002) and 0.23((0.11⁻0.48),
< 0.001), respectively. Late first-trimester high adherence to the predefined six food targets is associated with a reduction in the risk of GDM, CMFCs, UTI, prematurity, and SGA new-borns.