Published in:
01-03-2022 | Pregnancy | Original Contribution
Tracking of dietary patterns between pregnancy and 6 years post-pregnancy in a multiethnic Asian cohort: the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) study
Authors:
Yu Qi Lee, Marjorelee Colega, Ray Sugianto, Jun Shi Lai, Keith M. Godfrey, Kok Hian Tan, Lynette Pei-Chi Shek, See Ling Loy, Falk Müller‑Riemenschneider, Natarajan Padmapriya, Yap Seng Chong, Johan Gunnar Eriksson, Jerry Kok Yen Chan, Shiao-Yng Chan, Bee Choo Tai, Mary Foong-Fong Chong
Published in:
European Journal of Nutrition
|
Issue 2/2022
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Abstract
Purpose
Few studies have described adherence to dietary patterns over time in women of childbearing age. This study aims to describe, examine the stability and changes in dietary patterns between pregnancy and 6 years post-pregnancy and the sociodemographic and lifestyle factors influencing the adherence over time.
Methods
During pregnancy and at 6 years post-pregnancy, 24-h recalls and food frequency questionnaires were collected, respectively, from 709 women. Data on sociodemographic and lifestyle factors were collected via questionnaires. Dietary patterns were identified using principal component analysis and stability assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) and Cohen’s weighted kappa (κ). Associations with sociodemographic characteristics were assessed by multiple logistic regression.
Results
The ‘Fruits, Vegetables and Legumes’ (FVL) and ‘Seafood, Noodle, Soup’ (SNS) patterns were identified at both time points, with low correlation for the dietary pattern z scores (r 0.2 and 0.3, respectively) and modest agreement in tertile assignment, suggesting poor stability. An ‘unhealthy’ pattern was only observed at 6 years post-pregnancy. Women who showed increased adherence to FVL pattern had higher educational attainment and exhibited healthy lifestyle behaviours. Women who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy were less likely to decrease adherence to FVL pattern over time. Women who adhered more closely to the ‘unhealthy’ pattern at 6 years post-pregnancy tended to be younger, of Malay ethnicity, had lower socioeconomic status, were less physically active and had additional pregnancies.
Conclusions
Dietary habits of women became less healthy during the transition from pregnancy to 6 years post-pregnancy. However, results should be interpreted with caution due to the different dietary assessment tools used at the two time points.