Healthy Eating Is More than the Foods You Eat: Eating Practices of Mothers with and Without a History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

TL;DR

The study found that mothers with a history of gestational diabetes are more likely to use processed foods for dinners, which is linked to poorer diet quality and health outcomes.

Contribution

This study is the first to compare eating practices and health outcomes between mothers with and without gestational diabetes.

Findings

GDM+ mothers were more likely to use pre-prepared or processed foods for dinners compared to GDM− mothers.

Using processed foods was linked to lower diet quality and worse cardiometabolic indicators in GDM+ mothers.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Canada’s Food Guide 2019 includes advice such as “Cook more often” and “Eat meals with others”, which are considered healthy eating practices. However, mothers with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may face specific barriers to adopting healthy eating practices. This study aimed to compare eating practices between mothers with (GDM+) and without (GDM−) a history of GDM, and to explore the associations between eating practices, diet quality, and the anthropometric and cardiometabolic profile of these mothers. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in Quebec (Canada) between 2012 and 2017. Eating practices were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Diet quality was evaluated by the Healthy Eating Food Index 2019 through a validated food frequency questionnaire. Weight, height, and waist circumference were measured, and body composition was obtained by absorptiometry. Results: Data from 105 GDM+ and 38 GDM− mothers were analyzed (mean age 37.5 years ± 4.9). GDM+ mothers were more likely to prepare a greater proportion of dinners (≥1 per week) using pre-prepared or processed foods than GDM− mothers (49.0% vs. 34.2%; p = 0.016). Among GDM+ mothers, those who prepared ≥1 dinners per week using pre-prepared or processed foods showed lower adherence to the “Whole-grain foods” (1.1 ± 0.8 vs. 1.9 ± 1.2; p = 0.002) and “Sodium” (4.9 ± 2.0 vs. 5.8 ± 2.0, p = 0.013) recommendations, had a higher percentage of total body fat (37.5% ± 7.6 vs. 34.0% ± 7.7; p = 0.041), a higher waist circumference (91.6 cm ± 13.9 vs. 87.1 cm ± 16.3; p = 0.030), and a higher glycated hemoglobin (5.6% ± 0.5 vs. 5.5% ± 0.3; p = 0.025) than those who used less pre-prepared or processed foods. Conclusions: GDM+ mothers were more likely than GDM− mothers to prepare dinners using pre-prepared or processed foods, an eating practice associated with less favorable components of diet quality and some altered anthropometric and cardiometabolic variables. Further investigation into the factors influencing cooking from scratch within this population is warranted.

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