Monounsaturated fat intake is associated with improved sleep quality in pregnancy

To investigate the relationship between sleeping behaviour and macronutrient intake of pregnant women.

Cross-sectional analysis of data collected in 2009 as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

Australia PARTICIPANTS: Australian pregnant women (n = 437, aged 31-36) enrolled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health who completed Survey 5 in 2009.

Pregnant women self-reported sleep and dietary data. Latent class analysis derived sleep patterns. Relationships between sleep and diet were investigated through multivariate linear regression controlling for confounders including: area of residence, body mass index, depression, difficulty managing on income, education level and parity.

Latent class analysis identified three sleeping behaviour patterns: (LC1) average sleep (∼7.8 h) with no adverse sleep-related symptoms (n = 167); (LC2) average sleep (∼8.3 h) with adverse sleep symptoms (n = 193); and (LC3) short sleep (∼6.6 h) with adverse sleep symptoms (n = 97). After adjusting for potential confounders, LC2 was associated lower percentage energy (%E) total fat (b= -0.032, p = 0.039) and%E monounsaturated fat (b = -0.050, p = 0.005) and higher intake of%E carbohydrate (b = 0.031, p = 0.020), compared to LC1. No differences were found between LC1 and LC3.

Higher monounsaturated fat intake, at the expense of carbohydrate intake, may prove protective against poor sleep quality in pregnancy.

Antenatal support provided by health professionals should consider the important relationship between dietary intake and sleeping behaviour. Encouraging pregnant women to improve their sleep quality may prove an important strategy to optimise dietary intake during pregnancy and consequently improve the health outcomes for both mother and child.