The relationship between maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy in women with gestational diabetes mellitus and infant appetitive feeding behaviour at 6 months

Abstract

Early dietary exposure may influence infant appetitive feeding behaviour, and therefore their later health. Maternal diabetes in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of obesity in the offspring. We, therefore, examined third-trimester dietary patterns of women with gestational diabetes, their offspring’s appetitive feeding behaviour at 6 months of age, and relationships between these. We used data from a prospective cohort of women with gestational diabetes and assessed maternal dietary patterns at 36 weeks’ gestation using principal component analysis; infant appetitive feeding behaviour at 6 months of age using the Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire; and relationships between these using general linear modelling and chi-square tests. In 325 mother-infant dyads, we identified three distinct maternal dietary patterns: ‘Junk,’ ‘Mixed,’ and ‘Health-conscious.’ The maternal ‘Health-conscious’ pattern was inversely associated with ‘enjoyment of food’ in their sons (β − 0.24, 95% CI − 0.36 to − 0.11, p = 0.0003), but not daughters (β − 0.02, 95% CI − 0.12 to 0.08, p = 0.70), and was positively associated with ‘slowness in eating,’ (β 0.13, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.24, p = 0.01). Third-trimester dietary patterns in women with gestational diabetes may have sex-specific effects on infant appetitive feeding behaviour at 6 months of age.