Objective: To prospectively analyze the effects of gestational stress around 3 months of conception and stress in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy on the dietary preferences in late pregnancy of women in Shanghai City.
Methods: From April 2016 to April 2018, pregnant women who registered in 2 delivery hospitals in Shanghai were recruited as participants of Shanghai Maternal-Child Pair Cohort with informed consent. Life Events Scale for Pregnant Women was used to evaluate the gestational stress around 3 months of conception and stress during 32-36 weeks of pregnancy, respectively. Food Frequency Questionnaire and factor analysis were used to evaluate the dietary tendency in late pregnancy. Binary Logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between gestational stress and dietary tendency.
Results: Among the 2634 pregnant women included in this study, factor analysis revealed six dietary preferences in the third trimester of pregnancy, which were 'balanced', 'meat and beans', 'richer in sugar or oil', 'pickled products and giblets', 'nutritional supplement' and 'caffeine', respectively. After controlling for potential confounding factors of age, education, occupation, annual family income, body mass index before pregnancy, parity, anxiety and depression in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, higher total and subjective gestational stress around conception would make pregnant women less likely to have a "balanced" diet in late pregnancy(OR=0. 76, 95%CI 0. 61-0. 95). The higher level of gestational stress in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy was associated with a greater preference for a "balanced" diet(OR=1. 66, 95%CI 1. 22-2. 25), but it also increased the preference for a "pickled products and giblets" diet(OR=1. 32, 95%CI 0. 98-1. 78)and inhibited a preference for a "meat and beans" diet(OR=0. 72, 95%CI 0. 53-0. 96).
Conclusion: Lower level of gestational pressure during pregnancy is beneficial to the balance of diet in late pregnancy. Compared with that in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, gestational stress around conception is more likely to negatively affect dietary preferences in late pregnancy.
Keywords: cohort study; dietary preference; gestational stress.