Dietary Inflammatory Index during pregnancy is associated with birth weight and child anthropometry up to 10 years old: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that the dietary inflammatory potential in pregnant women might influence maternal and child health. The objective of this work is to review the literature on the association of Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) during pregnancy with early and late maternal and child health outcomes. We searched Cochrane, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Virtual Health Library. Observational studies on DII in the gestational period that met the objective of this review were selected. There was a double-blind evaluation of 185 studies, of which 16 were included in narrative synthesis and 9 in meta-analysis. High methodological quality, longitudinal studies (87.5%) and the Food Frequency Questionnaire for DII evaluation (68.8%) prevailed. Outcomes studied were gestational diabetes mellitus (n = 5), gestational age at delivery (n = 7), type of delivery (n = 3), gestational weight gain or pregestational body mass index (n = 11), and anthropometry at birth (n = 8) and of the child up to age 10 years (n = 4). Higher maternal DII was associated with increased risk of small-for-gestational-age babies (odds radio, 1.15; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.21; I², 29%; P = .24) and low birth weight (<2.500 g) (odds ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.26; I², 56%; P = .10). The association between higher maternal DII and higher risk of obesity in late childhood is also suggestive. Thus, maternal diet may be a modifiable factor of inflammation in pregnancy associated with health outcomes of the offspring.

Keywords: Birth weight; Body mass index; Childhood obesity; Dietary Inflammatory Index; Pregnancy.