Pregnancy and Glycemic Index Outcomes study: effects of low glycemic index compared with conventional dietary advice on selected pregnancy outcomes.

Background: Eating carbohydrate foods with a high glycemic index (GI) has been postulated to result in fetoplacental overgrowth and higher infant body fat. A diet with a low glycemic index (LGI) has been shown to reduce birth percentiles and the ponderal index (PI).

Objectives: We investigated whether offering LGI dietary advice at the first antenatal visit would result in a lower fetal birth weight, birth percentile, and PI than providing healthy eating (HE) advice.