Associations of Prenatal and Postpartum Dietary Inflammatory Potential with Postpartum Sleep Quality and Duration Among Pregnant Women with Overweight/Obesity.

Abstract

Objective: Research indicates a strong relationship between dietary inflammation and sleep; however, such research is limited among women postpartum. We studied whether prenatal and postnatal pro-inflammatory diets were associated with postpartum sleep quality and duration.

Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted among 219 women from the Health in Pregnancy and Postpartum randomized controlled trial promoting healthy lifestyles in pregnant women with pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity. Data from ≤16 and 32 weeks gestation, and 6 and 12 months postpartum were used. Sleep was measured using BodyMedia's SenseWear® armband. Energy-adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII^TM) scores were calculated using micro and macronutrients intake collected from 24-hour dietary recalls. Linear mixed-effects models estimated the impact of the E-DII score on postpartum sleep parameters.

Results: Women consuming pro-inflammatory diets, compared to anti-inflammatory diets were more likely to have a later bedtime (p = .04) and a later waketime (p = .03). For every one-unit increase in the prenatal E-DII score, 6-months postpartum sleep latency increased by 0.57 minute (p = .03). Among those receiving the intervention, changes in E-DII scores led to a 7.3-minute earlier bedtime (p = .01), 5.2-minute longer sleep duration (p = .03) and additional 5.7-minute longer time-in-bed (p = .05) compared to controls.

Conclusions: Results suggest anti-inflammatory diets during pregnancy and postpartum may be beneficial for better sleep.