Inflammatory Foods in Pregnancy Can Up T1D Risk in Kids

Medscape

2 days ago

TOPLINE:
Each 1-unit increase in the mother's dietary inflammation score during the middle of pregnancy was associated with a 16% higher risk for incident type 1 diabetes (T1D) in offsprings during their first 18 years of life.
METHODOLOGY:
Researchers in Denmark conducted a prospective study of 67,701 mother-child pairs drawn from a population-based cohort to investigate whether a proinflammatory maternal diet raised the offspring's risk for incident T1D.
Maternal dietary intake was collected using a 360-item comprehensive food frequency questionnaire during gestational week 25 of pregnancy.
The inflammatory potential of the maternal diet was assessed using an Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index score, with higher or positive values denoting a more proinflammatory diet (red meats, dairy low fat, pizza, margarine, potatoes, low energy drink, and savoury snacks) and lower or negative values indicating an anti‐inflammatory diet (alliums, tomato, whole grain, coffee, green leafy vegetables, fruit juice, dark meat fish, tea, and natural fruits).
Children were followed up for a mean duration of 17.58 years, and the diagnosis of T1D was confirmed through linked national health registries.
TAKEAWAY:
Among the 67,701 mother-child pairs, 0.42% of children developed T1D, with a median age at diagnosis of 10.2 years.
Each 1-unit increase in the maternal Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index score increased the risk for T1D in offsprings by 16% (hazard ratio [HR], 1.16; 95% CI, 1.02-1.32); this link between the proinflammatory diet and the risk for T1D was seen in both boys and girls.
Maternal smoking throughout pregnancy was linked to a lower risk for T1D in offsprings (HR, 0.47); however, a diet high in gluten content was associated with an increased risk for T1D (HR per 10 g/d increase in gluten intake, 1.36).
IN PRACTICE:
"Collectively, [the study] findings add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that paediatric type 1 diabetes may be influenced by prenatal or early postnatal modifiable factors," the authors wrote.
"Mid-pregnancy may be a critical period during which the fetus is particularly susceptible to maternal lifestyle influences," they added.
SOURCE:
This study was led by Rohina Noorzae, Statens Serum Institut, København, Denmark. It was published online on July 01, 2025, in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
LIMITATIONS:
This study was affected by unmeasured confounding factors, such as inflammatory properties of the children's own diets, which could not be ruled out.
DISCLOSURES:
This study was supported by the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes/Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)/Lilly Programme and JDRF. One author was supported by funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The authors reported having no competing interests.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.