Children born weighing less than 2.5 kilos can suffer from health problems throughout their lives. According to data from the World Health Organization, the prevalence of low birth weight is estimated at 15 and 20% of newborns worldwide. This low weight may be due to delayed intrauterine growth or premature birth (which occurs before the 37th week of pregnancy).
Determining which risk factors can be prevented during pregnancy so that the fetus develops correctly and the baby is born with an adequate gestational age and weight is essential to guarantee their well-being both in childhood and when they reach adulthood. . Now, a new study carried out by specialists at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid has shown that the mother’s genomic profile, good management of gestational diabetes and that the pregnant woman follows a Mediterranean diet prevent low birth weight.
The new research has been carried out by a multidisciplinary endocrinology research team in metabolic diseases on the genomic profile of more than 1,600 pregnant women and its results have been published in the journal IScience. Newborn weight is a basic indicator of fetal health statistically associated with a wide variety of long-term complications, such as a high risk of stunted growth, lower IQ, and even the possibility of premature death, while in adulthood it is related to a higher risk of overweight, obesity and cardiovascular morbidity.
With this study “we intend to increase knowledge about the genetic background of low birth weight by analyzing its association with a set of maternal variants related to gestational diabetes mellitus and the Mediterranean diet,” explains Alfonso Calle Pascual, head of the Health Service. Endocrinology of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital, in a note published by the center. To do this, he adds, “we carried out a multifactorial approach that includes maternal genetic information from 1,642 pregnant women, along with some anthropometric and metabolic characteristics, which are routinely collected during pregnancy monitoring.”
Healthy eating for pregnant women benefits their child
Researchers have identified 33 genetic variants associated with low birth weight and allow us to conclude that prevention and reduction of the prevalence of low birth weight can be achieved by observing certain maternal phenotypes and recommending pregnant women to carry a healthy diet and lifestyle, along with the eventual incorporation of maternal genome analysis, which contributes to more personalized pregnancy monitoring.
This study is part of another in which endocrinologists from the San Carlos Clinical Hospital already demonstrated in 2020 that taking a Mediterranean diet enriched with extra virgin olive oil and pistachios during pregnancy improves the health of pregnant women and children in their first two years. of life, reducing the risk of hospital admissions by up to 25%, according to the study carried out on 703 children published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.
Following the Mediterranean diet during pregnancy is associated with a reduction in hospital admissions for children up to two years of age.
The benefits provided by avoiding being overweight during pregnancy are transferred to the future baby, since the results of this study confirm that following the Mediterranean diet, especially in the case of women who have a body mass index of less than 25 and a normal level of glucose tolerance during pregnancy is associated with a reduction in hospital admissions for their children up to two years of age.
“In the children of mothers who during pregnancy had a healthier diet based on the Mediterranean diet, complemented with extra virgin olive oil and pistachios as a nut, a reduction in hospital admissions due to bronchiolitis, asthma, or infectious diseases of 25%,” says Calle Pascual.
The San Carlos Clinic group had previously shown that early adherence to the Mediterranean diet with a supplement of extra virgin olive oil and walnuts can reduce the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus and other negative consequences, in addition to improving the metabolic profile. of women in the postpartum.
Source: San Carlos Clinical Hospital
