Nutrition-Education-Based Interventions in Gestational Diabetes: A Scoping Review of Clinical Trials

Abstract

Cases of diabetes mellitus have seen a global increase in prevalence, but there are inherent differences in the pathology and management of different types of diabetes. Type 2 and gestational diabetes have the most similar pathophysiology. For that reason, many similar management strategies exist between type 2 and gestational diabetes, including nutrition-based interventions. Diabetes self-management education and medical nutrition therapy have been advanced as cost-effective interventions to manage hyperglycemia. Many of these interventions, however, were designed for type 2 diabetes and adapted for diabetes in gestation. Nutrition-education-based interventions in gestational diabetes have not been fully elucidated. We scrutinized this gap by conducting a scoping review of recently published peer-reviewed studies that evaluated clinical endpoints in cases of gestational diabetes with nutrition-education-based interventions. The search yielded 621 articles, and the 12 articles included were published between 2012 and 2022. The nutrition information varied across the heterogeneous diabetes self-management education, whereas the medical nutrition therapy studies were more consistent. Our literature search revealed similar outcomes across self-management education and medical nutrition therapy interventions implemented during the third trimester of pregnancies with diabetes. These results suggest that both generalized and personalized approaches to nutrition education in gestational diabetes can manage hyperglycemia and offset its adverse consequences.

Effects of dietary intervention combined with insulin aspart on serum nesfatin-1 and CTRP12 levels and pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus

“…Moreover, a large amount of literature has confirmed that insulin aspart treatment can greatly reduce nesfatin-1, CTRP12, and blood glucose levels. [31,32] Another study found that the incidence of adverse pregnancy and perinatal outcomes in patients with GDM is greatly reduced by dietary interventions and insulin aspart treatment. [33] The results of this study showed that, after treatment, the proportion of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group, and the proportions of premature infants, macrosomia, fetal distress, neonatal asphyxia, and neonatal hypoglycemia in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group.…”

“…Moreover, a large amount of literature has confirmed that insulin aspart treatment can greatly reduce nesfatin-1, CTRP12, and blood glucose levels. [ 31 , 32 ]…”

Pregnancy as an opportunity to prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus: FIGO Best Practice Advice

“…Low‐resource contexts pose a challenge 20 ; for example, the model of care in which women with GDM were followed up throughout their pregnancy by trained healthcare professionals was tested in a low‐resource setting. 72 This model included face‐to‐face counselling with nutritionists and healthcare professionals, whereby women were educated about GDM and its adverse health effects on both mother and baby, were provided with educational booklets, and were motivated to track their dietary pattern and physical activity. The model was found to be effective in reducing the rate of both maternal and neonatal complications in women with GDM to levels similar to women with normoglycemia.…”