Dietary related inflammation during pregnancy and the impact on gestational weight gain

Wrottesley, S. V., Shivappa, N., Prioreschi, A., Hébert, J. R., & Norris, S. A. (2022). Anti-inflammatory diets reduce the risk of excessive gestational weight gain in urban South Africans from the Soweto First 1000-Day Study (S1000). European Journal of Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-022-02931-x

Rapid urbanization and a shift to westernized, energydense, and ultra-processed foods alongside increa singly sedentary lifestyles have contributed to a double burden of under- (poor micronutrients) and over- (macronutrient excess) nutrition in low- and middle-income nations. During pregnancy, a higher intake of more westernized, high-sugar diets and maternal obesity in early pregnancy have been linked with higher maternal weight gain and fetal growth during pregnancy, both associated with increased risk of cardiometabolic disease. However, the specific mechanisms that lead to higher risk for both mother and infant, including the role of maternal inflammatory responses, are not fully elucidated within the South African setting.

Dr Stephanie Wrottesley, a post-doctoral student from the University of Witwatersand, investigated the perinatal relationship between maternal dietary inflammatory index (DII), gestational weight gain (GWG) and delivery outcomes in urban South African women to determine the role of inflammation. The analysis was nested within the Soweto First 1000Day Study (S1000), a longitudinal pregnancy cohort study run by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit (DPHRU) at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) in Soweto, Johannesburg.

Findings indicated that, in this fast urbanized area (Soweto, South Africa) where obesity prevalence rates are high, consumption of an anti-inflammatory diet during pregnancy decreased the risk of excessive GWG. More research is needed to fully comprehend how maternal nutrition influences maternal obesity, inflammation and fetal programming.