Obesity Abstracts

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as the development of diabetes during pregnancy. While a small degree of insulin resistance is normal in pregnancy, GDM is detrimental to the health and development of both mother and child, increasing the mother’s risk of 2 diabetes (T2D) and her offspring’s risk of both T2Dand obesity in later life. GDM affects up to 1 in 7 pregnant women globally, but incidence varies among ethnic groups and is increasing worldwide. South Asian women are reported to experience some of the highest levels of incidence (≈20%), twice that of white European women. Meta-analyses have shown dietary interventions as a promising means to control GDM during pregnancy; however, the extent to which these interventions are effective in different ethnicities remains unclear. Indeed, for T2D previous work has demonstrated significant ethnic-specific responses to diets aimed at improving glycemia in middle-aged women significant variation between ethnicities in their response to dietary interventions aimed at improving glycemia. Current meta-analyses within the literature include Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) to establish the effect of diet on GDM incidence. Within this meta-analysis, we utilize both RCTs and observational studies to ascertain the extent in which a women’s diet pre-pregnancy in a non-controlled setting can impact GDM incidence.

Methods: Publications found within Pubmed and OVID databases were limited to cohort, nested-cohort, case-control, or RCT studies published after 2000 that report the association and effect of diet on diagnosed-GDM in healthy pregnant women. All titles, abstracts, and full-texts were reviewed in duplicate. Discrepancies were mediated by an independent 3rd reviewer. Extracted data were analysed using a random effect model and meta-regression, All studies were evaluated against the AMSTAR-2 criteria, including an assessment of risk of bias.

Results: Pending.

Conclusion: The aim of this work is to determine whether dietary interventions are an effective means of reducing GDM incidence in a broad range of ethnic populations and to what extent.

Keywords: Gestational diabetes mellitus, obesity, ethnicity

Disclosures: No conflict of interest to report. Work funded by The University of Leeds, School of Food Science and Nutrition Research Study Scholarship Award (PhD Scholarship).