Maternal pregnancy diet quality, night eating, and offspring metabolic health: the GUSTO study

Abstract

Background

We investigated the understudied influence of maternal diet quality, food timing, and their interactions during pregnancy on offspring metabolic health.

Methods

Maternal diet at 26–28 weeks’ gestation was assessed using a 24-h recall and adherence to the modified-healthy-eating-index (HEI-SGP) reflects diet quality. Predominant night-eating (PNE) was defined as consuming >50% of total daily energy intake from 19:00 to 06:59. Outcomes were offspring composite metabolic syndrome score and its components measured at age 6 years. Multivariable linear regressions adjusted for relevant maternal and child covariates assessed associations of diet quality and PNE with these outcomes.

Results

Up to 758 mother-child pairs were included. The mean(SD) maternal HEI-SGP score was 52.3(13.7) points (theoretical range: 0-100) and 15% of the mothers demonstrated PNE. Maternal diet quality showed inverse relationship with offspring Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) [β(95% CI): –0.08(–0.15, –0.02) per-10-point HEI-SGP increment; P = 0.012]. Maternal PNE was associated with a higher offspring HOMA-IR [0.28(0.06, 0.50); P = 0.012], with similar estimates after adjustment for children’s BMI and diet quality; the association was stronger for boys (P-interaction<0.001) and among mothers with lower diet quality (<median HEI-SGP) (P-interaction = 0.062).

Conclusions

Maternal PNE and low dietary quality were associated with a higher level of insulin resistance in early childhood, especially among boys.

Impact

• We demonstrated that maternal predominant night-eating behavior and low-quality diet are associated with higher offspring insulin resistance.

• Maternal low-quality diet and predominant night-eating behavior synergistically interact to influence offspring insulin resistance, particularly among boys.

• While maternal diet quality and food timing impact the mother’s health, their influence on offspring long-term health outcomes through developmental programming is not well understood.

• Our findings highlight the significance of maternal food timing and calls for further studies on its influence on child health through developmental programming. Targeting both dietary quality and food timing during pregnancy could be a promising intervention strategy.