Association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and glycemic self-monitoring in women with gestational diabetes mellitus and their newborns: A cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and outcomes of self-monitoring of blood glucose in pregnant woman with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and the occurrence of hypoglycemia in their newborns.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of pregnant woman with GDM who were followed up from the second trimester of pregnancy in high-risk prenatal care until the immediate postpartum period. Dietary intake was assessed using 24-h recalls and analyzed according to the Nova Classification. The glycemic profile was assessed by self-monitoring of fasting and postprandial capillary glycemia (pregnant) and by capillary glycemia in the first 48 h of life (neonate). Multilevel binary logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship between increasing UPF intake, considering the highest tertile of UPF consumption, and women's glycemic control and the occurrence of neonatal hypoglycemia.

Results: UPFs provided 15% of calories consumed; 33.3% (n = 30) and 52.3% (n = 45) of the women had hyperglycemia in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, respectively. After adjustment it was observed that UPF consumption had no significant association with maternal glycemic control but it showed a positive association with the occurrence of neonatal hypoglycemia (odds ratio [OR] 1.144, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.037-1.262, p = 0.007).

Conclusion: These data reinforce the need to address food processing during high-risk prenatal care in order to help reduce the negative impacts of UPF consumption on the mother-infant dyad.