HEALTH NEWS

Study Title:

Vegetable Intake During Pregnancy Reduces the Risk of Type I Diabetes in Child

Study Abstract

Objective: To investigate if maternal diet during pregnancy is associated with occurrence of islet autoimmunity (IA) in the offspring.

Methods: Of 21 700 infants invited to the All Babies in South-east Sweden (ABIS) study, 16 004 screening questionnaires, including a 22-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) regarding the mothers' diet during pregnancy, were completed after delivery. Follow-up of the children (questionnaires and blood sampling) was performed at 1, 2.5 and 5 yr of age. IA was defined as being positive (above the 95th percentile for healthy children) in two or more measurements of autoantibodies [glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA), tyrosine phosphatase (IA-2A), insulin autoantibodies (IAA)] analysed at the three time points or being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during the 5-yr follow-up period. The 5 724 children in whom we carried out two to three possible blood samplings were included in the study. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify variables predicting IA.

Results: Of 5 724 children,191 (3.3%) were considered positive for IA. In a univariate analysis, less than daily consumption of vegetables (3–5 times/week) in the mothers' diet was associated with increased risk of IA (OR 1.71, 95% CI:1.24–2.35, p = 0.001) compared to daily consumption (p for trend = 0.004). The association was strengthened when adjusting for known IA-risk factors (p for trend <0.001).

Conclusions: Daily consumption of vegetables in the mothers' diet during pregnancy was associated with a decreased risk of IA in the offspring.

From press release:

New evidence is emerging for how important it is for pregnant women to eat good, nutritious food. Expecting mothers who eat vegetables every day seem to have children who are less likely to develop type 1 diabetes, a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy has revealed.

The study was performed in collaboration with Linköping University, which is conducting a population study called ABIS (All Babies in Southeast Sweden). The results have been published in the journal Pediatric Diabetes.

"This is the first study to show a link between vegetable intake during pregnancy and the risk of the child subsequently developing type 1 diabetes, but more studies of various kinds will be needed before we can say anything definitive," says researcher and clinical nutritionist Hilde Brekke from the Sahlgrenska Academy.

Blood samples from almost 6,000 five year-olds were analysed in the study. In type 1 diabetes, certain cells in the pancreas gradually get worse at producing insulin, leading to insulin deficiency. Children at risk of developing type 1 diabetes have antibodies in their blood which attack these insulin-producing cells.

Of the 6,000 children tested, three per cent had either elevated levels of these antibodies or fully developed type 1 diabetes at the age of five. These risk markers were up to twice as common in children whose mothers rarely ate vegetables during pregnancy. The risk was lowest among children whose mothers stated that they ate vegetables every day.

"We cannot say with certainty on the basis of this study that it's the vegetables themselves that have this protective effect, but other factors related to vegetable intake, such as the mother's standard of education, do not seem to explain the link," says Brekke. "Nor can this protection be explained by other measured dietary factors or other known risk factors."

The term "Vegetables "in this study included all vegetables except for root vegetables.

Study Information

Hilde K Brekke and Johnny Ludvigsson.
Daily vegetable intake during pregnancy negatively associated to islet autoimmunity in the offspring-The ABIS study.
Pediatric Diabetes
2009 September
Department of Clinical Nutrition, Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden.