Unhealthy dietary patterns are associated with weight gain during pregnancy among Finnish women.
OBJECTIVE
To study whether the dietary patterns of Finnish pregnant women are associated with their weight gain rate during pregnancy.


METHODS
A validated 181-item FFQ was applied retrospectively to assess the diet during the eighth month of pregnancy, and maternal height and maternal weight at first and last antenatal visits were recalled. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, parity and smoking of the pregnant women was obtained by a structured questionnaire and from the Finnish Birth Registry. Principal components analysis was used to identify dietary patterns that described the diet of pregnant women based on their food consumption profile.


METHODS
Finland.


METHODS
Subjects consisted of 3360 women who had newly delivered in 1997-2002 and whose baby carried human leucocyte antigen-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in two university hospital regions, Oulu and Tampere, in Finland.


RESULTS
Out of seven dietary patterns identified, the 'fast food' pattern was positively associated (beta = 0.010, se = 0.003, P = 0.004) and the 'alcohol and butter' pattern was inversely associated (beta = -0.010, se = 0.003, P < 0.0001) with weight gain rate (kg/week) during pregnancy after adjusting for potential dietary, perinatal and sociodemographic confounding factors. Both of the dietary pattern associations demonstrated dose dependency.


CONCLUSIONS
Pregnant women should be guided to have a well-planned, balanced, healthy diet during pregnancy in order to avoid rapid gestational weight gain. The association between diet, health and maternal weight gain of the women who consumed alcohol during pregnancy should be studied further.
Uusitalo
Ulla
U
Department of Lifestyles and Inclusion, Nutrition Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Mannerheimintie 166, FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland. ulla.uusitalo@epi.usf.edu
Arkkola
Tuula
T
Ovaskainen
Marja-Leena
ML
Kronberg-Kippilä
Carina
C
Kenward
Mike G
MG
Veijola
Riitta
R
Simell
Olli
O
Knip
Mikael
M
Virtanen
Suvi M
SM