Associação entre o consumo de alimentos ultraprocessados e o perfil glicêmico de mulheres com diabetes mellitus gestacional e glicemia neonatal de seus recém-nascidos

Abstract

The high consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) has caused unfavorable effects on the health of the population and the nutritional quality of the diet, however, there are still few studies that evaluate the impact of this consumption on metabolic outcomes of mother-child pairs in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM ). Thus, the objective of the study was to evaluate the association of UPF consumption with the glycemic profile of women with GDM and with the glycemia of their newborns. The study was observational, longitudinal, prospective, cohort, carried out with women diagnosed with GDM and their newborns. Data collection took place at least two times during prenatal care (during the 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy) and in the immediate postpartum period. The assessment of food consumption was carried out according to the Nova classification, with pairs grouped according to tertiles of energy contribution of UPF in the diet. The glycemic profile was assessed by fasting blood glucose, self-monitoring of capillary blood glucose (fasting, one hour after breakfast, one hour after lunch and one hour after dinner) in pregnant women, and according to capillary blood glucose levels in their newborns in the first 48 hours of life. Binary logistic regression analyzes were carried out to evaluate the relationship between the increase in UPF participation, considering the highest tertile of UPF consumption as a reference category, in the control of glycemia in women with GDM at the time of the research and the occurrence of hypoglycemia in their neonates (<50 mg/dL). 94 couples participated in the study, whose average caloric intake of women was 1,936 Kcal (1228 – 3124 Kcal), with 15% of the total daily energy coming from UPF. Regarding the glycemic profile, 33.3% (n=30) and 52.3% (n=45) of them presented hyperglycemia in the second and third trimester of pregnancy, respectively. It was observed that UPF consumption had no significant association with maternal glycemic control, but showed a positive association with the occurrence of neonatal hypoglycemia (OR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.037-1.262; p=0.007). Thus, the data suggest that maternal consumption of UPF may be related to the occurrence of neonatal hypoglycemia in newborns of pregnant women with GDM, reinforcing the inclusion of guidelines for promoting healthy eating during pregnancy in nutritional assistance protocols for pregnant women with GDM.