Effects of diet on hypertensive disorders during pregnancy: A cross-sectional study from a teaching hospital

Pregnancy is a positive, fulfilling experience for many, but it can put the mother at the risk of suffering ill-health, disability, or even maternal death. The common causes of maternal death include pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) or gestational hypertension or hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP), post-partum hemorrhage, and pulmonary embolism. Modifications in lifestyle and diet have been widely advocated as a cost-effective strategy to prevent PIH.

To assess the role of dietary factors in PIH attending antenatal care services at a teaching hospital.

Pregnant women who were attending the antenatal clinic who were diagnosed with hypertension in pregnancy and normotensive before the pregnancy were included in the study. As per the protocol, informed written consent, demographic details with clinical data were obtained from the patients. A total of 225 antenatal cases having hypertension in pregnancy were included in our study.

Majority of the study subjects (81.8%) were taking mixed diets, 50.2% consumed additional salt in their diet, the intake history of visible fat was given by 25.3% and 96.4% consumed tea while 52.9% had a history of consuming junk food. Among the 41 vegetarian study subjects with hypertension in pregnancy, the maximum subjects (73.1%) had preeclampsia followed by gestational hypertension in 23.6% the subjects. The relation between the type of diet and hypertension in pregnancy was found to be statistically insignificant. The relation between visible fat consumption and hypertension in pregnancy was found to be statistically significant.

The association of dietary factors with HDP could be explained by several factors. One being the high-calorie intake by women with known HDP and those without HDP. The imbalance between the energy intake and expenditure is a potential risk factor and leads to overweight or obesity.

The consumption of additional salt in the diet, visible fat, and obesity was found to be associated with HDP in our study.