Inverse relation between fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of intakes of fruit, vegetable and dairy with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods: This prospective study was conducted over a 17 month period, on a random sample of pregnant women (n = 1026), aged 18-45 y, in their first half of pregnancy, attending prenatal clinics in five hospitals' affiliated to universities of medical sciences in different districts of Tehran, Iran. Dietary intakes were assessed during gestational age ≤ 6 weeks using a 168-item validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation, all pregnant women underwent a scheduled 100 g 3-h oral glucose tolerance test. Diagnosis of GDM was based on criteria set by the American Diabetes Association. Results: Of 1026 study participants, 71 had GDM, with a mean age and pre-pregnancy BMI of 26.7 ± 4.3 y and 25.4 ± 4.5 Kg/m², respectively. High fruit and vegetable intakes were negatively associated with GDM risk. Compared with women who consumed < 2.1 servings/day, odds ratio (ORs) for those who consumed ≥ 4.9 servings/day was 0.44 (95% CI: 0.20-0.93), after adjustment for confounding factors. Fruit and vegetable intakes were significantly and inversely associated with the GDM; ORs (95% CIs) for GDM among participants with the highest, compared to the lowest quartiles were 0.48 (0.18-0.89) for fruit and 0.46 (0.22-0.99) for vegetables intake. No association was found between dairy products and GDM. Conclusions: Fruit and vegetable consumption in women of reproductive age have beneficial effects in the prevention of GDM.