Mediterranean diet cuts risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes

Following a Mediterranean-style diet around the time of conception and throughout pregnancy helps prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes, according to a study.

The study included 7,798 women (mean age 27.4 years, 10.5 percent non-Hispanic Black, 19.5 percent had obesity) who had singleton pregnancies. All of them completed a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire.

Using data on habitual diet in the 3 months around conception, researchers computed an Alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMed) score: 0–3 was considered low, 4–5 moderate, and 6–9 high. They followed the participants for the development of adverse pregnancy outcomes, defined as one or more of the following: pre-eclampsia or eclampsia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, delivery of a small-for-gestational-age infant, and stillbirth.

The mean aMed score was 4.3 around the time of conception. Concordance to a Mediterranean diet pattern was high in 30.6 percent of women, moderate in 31.2 percent, and low in 38.2 percent. In multivariable logistic regression models, women with a high aMed score had 21-percent lower odds of any adverse pregnancy outcome (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.79, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.68–0.92), 28-percent lower odds of pre-eclampsia or eclampsia (aOR, 0.72, 95 percent CI, 0.55–0.93), and 37 percent lower odds of gestational diabetes (aOR, 0.63, 95 percent CI, 0.44–0.90) compared with women who had a low aMed score.

The associations did not differ by race, ethnicity, and prepregnancy body mass index. However, the association between a high aMed score and lower odds of adverse pregnancy outcomes were stronger among women aged ≥35 years (aOR, 0.54, 95 percent CI, 0.34–0.84; p=0.02 for interaction).

When aMed score was evaluated in quintiles, similar associations were seen, with higher scores inversely associated with the incidence of any adverse pregnancy outcomes.

More studies are required to examine whether dietary modification around the time of conception can lower the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and their downstream associations with future development of cardiovascular disease risk factors and overt disease.