Eat healthy to achieve a good pregnancy outcome

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, more than 150,000 infants are born in the county. Pregnancy outcomes in the county in regard to such factors as infant mortality, low birth weight births, and preterm births are better than the national average; however, differences in outcomes exist among the different racial/ethnic groups in Los Angeles and among people living in different parts of the county. According to a new study, one of the major factors involved in pregnancy outcome is a healthy diet during pregnancy. Researchers from the Queen Mary University of London in the United Kingdom published their findings online on May 17 in the British Medical Journal.

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Lead author Dr. Shakila Thangaratinam and colleagues noted that in the UK, more than half the women of reproductive age are overweight or obese; furthermore, throughout Europe and the US, up to 40% of women gain more than the recommended weight in pregnancy. They pointed out that excessive weight gain during pregnancy is associated with a number of serious health problems.

The investigators examined the effects of diet, exercise, or a combination of the two on weight gain during pregnancy; they also reviewed adverse effects on the mother or infant following delivery. Their study comprised the review of 44 randomized, placebo-controlled trials involving more than 7,000 women. The authors also rated the design and quality of the studies to reduce bias from lower caliber reports.

The authors noted that weight management interventions in pregnancy proved to be effective in reducing maternal weight gain. In addition, they found dietary interventions to be more effective than exercise programs. Dietary intervention resulted in the an average weight gain reduction of 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) compared to 0.7 kilogram (1.54 pounds) for exercise and 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) for a combination of the two. Furthermore, diet also provided the most benefit in preventing pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia, diabetes, high blood pressure, and premature birth.

The authors cautioned, however, that the overall quality of the studies in regard to supportive evidence was low to very low for these important outcomes. More importantly, they wrote, the results revealed that dietary interventions are safe and do not adversely affect the infant’s weight. The authors concluded that dietary and lifestyle interventions in pregnancy improve outcomes for both mother and baby; however, they acknowledged the lack of data on risk factors such as age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

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