There is little evidence linking eating speed to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) incidence. We therefore aimed to evaluate the prospective association of eating speed with GDM incidence. Overall, 97,454 pregnant women were recruited between January 2011 and March 2014. Singleton pregnant women who did not have GDM, heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 1 diabetes, and/or type 2 diabetes at the time of study enrollment were eligible. Each woman was asked about her eating speed at that time via a questionnaire. Odds ratios of GDM in relation to eating speed were obtained using logistic regression. Among the 84,811 women eligible for analysis, 1902 cases of GDM were identified in medical records. Compared with women who reported slow eating speed, the age-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of GDM for women who reported medium, relatively fast, or very fast eating speed were 1.03 (0.90, 1.18), 1.07 (0.94, 1.23), and 1.28 (1.05, 1.58), respectively. Adjustment for demographic, lifestyle-related, and dietary factors including dietary fat, dietary fiber, and energy intakes yielded similar results. The association was attenuated and no longer significant after further adjustment for pre-pregnancy body mass index. The mediation analysis showed that being overweight accounted for 64% of the excess risk of GDM associated with eating speed. In conclusion, women who reported very fast eating speed, compared with those reporting slow eating speed, were associated with an increased incidence of GDM, which may be largely mediated by increased body fat.
Keywords: cohort study; eating speed; gestational diabetes; prevention.