Pregnancy Diet High in Sugary Drinks, Fried Foods May Raise Child's Risk of Diabetes: Study Shows
A diet high in inflammatory foods during pregnancy may increase a child's risk of developing type 1 diabetes, according to new Danish research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. The study found that for every unit increase in a dietary measure of inflammation, there was a 16% higher risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the immune system destroys insulin-producing cells, requiring lifelong insulin therapy. Its global incidence is rising by 3-4% annually, especially in developed countries, pointing to environmental factors. As the immune system forms early in life, researchers are exploring how maternal diet during pregnancy may influence a child's immune development.
To explore this connection, researchers analyzed data from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC), tracking 67,701 mother-child pairs from 1996 to 2002. At around 25 weeks of pregnancy, women completed a detailed food frequency questionnaire covering 360 items across 38 food groups. From this, researchers calculated an “energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index” (EDII) to assess the inflammatory potential of their diets.
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