Impact of Sugary Food Consumption on Pregnancy: A Review

Obesity in pregnancy has been directly associated with an increased risk of almost all pregnancy complications such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and premature delivery. Thereby, according to current evidence available, life-style interventions to pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Casas Rodríguez, Rosa M., Castro-Barquero, Sara, Estruch Riba, Ramon
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2020
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/184123
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/184123
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Diabetis en l'embaràs
Preeclàmpsia
Obesitat
Embaràs
Diabetes in pregnancy
Preeclampsia
Obesity
Pregnancy
Description
Summary:Obesity in pregnancy has been directly associated with an increased risk of almost all pregnancy complications such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and premature delivery. Thereby, according to current evidence available, life-style interventions to prevent pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity in women of fertile age are necessary to reduce the negative impact of obesity on mother and child health. Unhealthy dietary patterns, together with the increased consumption of processed foods rich in simple sugar and sweeteners are some of the responsible, among others, for the increase in obesity rates during the last years. Nevertheless, how its consumption can affect pregnancy outcomes and long-term children's health is still uncertain. This review aims to collate the available evidence about the consequences of unhealthy dietary patterns and sugary products consumption, including sweeteners, during pregnancy for obesity in childhood and mid-childhood. High simple sugar intake during gestation may contribute to an excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) as well as to develop other pregnancy complications such as GDM, preeclampsia and preterm birth. The heterogeneity of study populations, sample size, different approaches to measure GWG, GMD, preeclampsia, and birth weight, among other conditions, might explain the divergences observed among studies. Therefore, large, well-designed intervention-controlled trials with biological biomarkers to ensure dietary adherence are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions in order to provide effective nutritional advice.