Women's dietary changes before and during pregnancy: A systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundDietary intake before and during pregnancy has significant health outcomes for both mother and child, including a healthy gestational weight gain. To ensure effective interventions are successfully developed to improve dietary intake during pregnancy, it is important to understand what dietary changes pregnant women make without intervention. AimsTo systematically identify and review studies examining women's dietary changes before and during pregnancy and to identify characteristics of the women making these changes. MethodsA systematic search strategy was employed using three databases (Web of Science, CINAHL and PubMed) in May 2016. Search terms included those relating to preconception, pregnancy and diet. All papers were quality assessed using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network methodology checklist for cohort studies.The search revealed 898 articles narrowed to full-text review of 23 studies.In total, 11 research articles were included in the review, describing nine different studies. The findings were narratively summarized in line with the aims of the review. FindingsThe included studies showed marked heterogeneity, which impacts on the findings. However, the majority report an increase in energy intake (kcal or kJ) during pregnancy. Of the studies that reported changes through food group comparisons, a majority reported a significant increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, a decrease in egg consumption, a decrease in fried and fast food consumption and a decrease in coffee and tea consumption from before to during pregnancy. The characteristics of the women participating in these studies, suggest that age, education and pregnancy intention are associated with healthier dietary changes; however these factors were only assessed in a small number of studies. Key conclusionsThe 11 included articles show varied results in dietary intake during pregnancy as compared to before.More research is needed regarding who makes these healthy changes, this includes consistency regarding measurement tools, outcomes and time points. 3 Implications for practiceMidwives as well as intervention developers need to be aware of the dietary changes women may spontaneously engage in when becoming pregnant, so that care and interventions can build on these.

Dietary Protein Intake, Meat Consumption, and Dairy Consumption in the Year Preceding Pregnancy and During Pregnancy and Their Associations With the Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Cohort Study in Southwest China

“…In addition, our finding of the main dietary source of protein are broadly consistent with that observed among British in The Southampton Women's Survey ( n = 1,490) and Hungarian women ( n = 349) ( 33 , 36 ). The reason for this result may be due to physiological changes, traditional beliefs and dietary recommendations during pregnancy ( 32 ).…”

“…To date, all cohort studies analyzing the link between maternal individual nutrients and GDM risk addressed dietary intake only in one time window, i.e., either before pregnancy ( 19 , 21 – 28 ) or during pregnancy ( 29 – 31 ). However, individual dietary protein intake level may change during pregnancy ( 32 ). An increase in the intake of protein rich foods during pregnancy was reported in UK ( 33 ), Portugal ( 34 ), Switzerland ( 35 ), Hungary ( 36 ), and Asia ( 37 ), especially a remarkable increase in protein intake during mid-pregnancy was observed among Portuguese ( 34 ) and Swedes ( 35 ).…”

Health behaviour and pregnancy: a time for change

“…More research is needed to examine the factors influencing why some women change their health behaviours whilst others do not. Initial findings from a recent review suggest that sociodemographic variables such as education may play a role in spontaneous dietary change (Hillier & Olander, 2017) but further work is warranted and needs to consider the behaviour's impact on maternal, fetal and pregnancy outcomes. Furthermore, it may be that some health behaviours are seen by women as more important or easier to change, potentially linked to the social expectations; and what is acceptable to women may differ to policy recommendations.…”

Dietary Patterns and Dietary Adaptations in Women With and Without Gestational Diabetes: Evidence From the Growing Up in New Zealand Study

“…Pregnancy is a time when women frequently pay extra attention to their diet in order to promote the health and well-being of themselves and their baby [1][2][3][4]. Women receive information from a range of sources [2,3] and make a number of dietary adaptations during pregnancy [5]. Diet is thought to play a critical role in the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a form of carbohydrate intolerance first diagnosed in pregnancy [6], and a number of dietary components have been associated with an increased or decreased risk of GDM [7][8][9][10][11].…”