Dietary patterns and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

Background & aims: The association between dietary patterns and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) risk was investigated in many studies, but the findings were inconclusive. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. To find the relevant articles several databases were searched. We found that 13 studies met our inclusion criteria. So, the relevant dietary patterns were selected and the random-effect model was used to compute the summary risk estimates and 95 percent confidence intervals. Results: This meta-analysis revealed that “prudent” (RR = 0.78, CI = 0.63–0.96), “vegetable” (RR = 0.86, CI = 0.76–0.98), and “Mediterranean” (RR = 0.71, CI = 0.56–0.91) dietary patterns with high levels of whole grain, fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy intake decreased the risk of GDM. However, the western dietary pattern, determined by high intakes of red meat, process meat, fried food, and refined grain could increase the risk of GDM (RR = 1.27, CI = 1.03–1.56). Conclusions: Western dietary pattern could increase the risk of GDM; while the healthy dietary patterns including “Mediterranean”, “prudent”, and “vegetable” dietary patterns could decrease the risk of GDM.