The effectiveness of low trans-fatty acids dietary pattern in pregnancy and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common disorder in pregnancy. The association of trans fatty acids (TFA) intake and risk of GDM have been reported; It remains unclear whether dietary TFA can influence GDM risk. We examined the effect of low TFA dietary intakes during pregnancy on risk of GDM.

METHODS

This randomized controlled trial was performed on 800 pregnant women who were randomly divided into 393 intervention and 407 comparison groups with gestational age ≥7 weeks. In the intervention group, the diet of pregnant women was designed in such a way that their daily intake of TFA content was less than1% but in control group, the daily intake of TFA content was not changed. The dietary intake was assessed using a 24-hour dietary recall questionnaire for three non-consecutive days at the beginning of the pregnancy before week 7, and at 13, 25 and 35 weeks. Diagnosis of GDM was performed using a 3-hour glucose tolerance test with 100 g glucose at 24-28 weeks of gestation.

RESULTS

14 women in the intervention group (5%) and 31 women in the control group (8%) were diagnosed with GDM. Chi-square test did not show any significant difference between two groups (P=0.08). Cox model was used and the variables were examined in four multivariate models that none of the modals showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding the incidence of GDM.

CONCLUSION

It seems that the diet with low trans-fatty acid content has no effect on the incidence of GDM.