Vegetable consumption during pregnancy lowers baby’s risk of diabetes in future

October 31, 2009 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: Baby Health, News, Pregnancy

Vegetable consumption by expectant mothers may lower the risk of childhood diabetes, but more research must be done.

In a joint effort, University of Gothenburg and Linkoping University in Sweden have had research published that confirms the importance of a balanced diet for pregnant women.

The research, published in the journal Pediatric Diabetes, was based on the study of 6000 five-year-olds and their blood levels of antibodies that suppress the production of insulin. Children with the inability to produce insulin are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Researchers also recorded information about what the children’s mothers ate during pregnancy. When researchers compared the insulin data with the recorded diets of the children’s mothers, they discovered that the risk indicators of children whose mothers ate few vegetables during pregnancy were twice as common as those whose mothers regularly ate vegetables during pregnancy.

“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,” said Hilde Brekke, a clinical nutritionist at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg. “Nor can this protection be explained by other measured dietary factors or other known risk factors.”

Brekke went on to say that more research is necessary to directly link a cause-and-effect relationship.

“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.”