Pregnant women only make small diet changes after a gestational diabetes diagnosis, according to a new study. As such, even with receiving the diagnosis, pregnancy complications for most women with gestational diabetes do not decline.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health found that women who were diagnosed with gestational diabetes made only "modest" changes to their diets, according to EurekAlert! While things like the amount of juice consumed and intake of sugar were decreased in some groups of expecting women, others did not make any changes whatsoever.
When women receive a diagnosis of gestational diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control, they are given several recommendations that will help to manage diabetes during pregnancy. And while things like exercise and a healthy diet are important, the biggest thing that women can do to regulate blood sugar is to decrease the carbohydrates they consume.
According to the study, which was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the lifestyle and dietary changes recommended to those who received a gestational diabetes diagnosis were taken seriously in some groups, while others did not heed the guidelines given to reduce complications during pregnancy.
Those who were obese, had multiple children, were between the ages of 35 to 41, identified as Hispanic, and had an education level no higher than high school were the most resistant to the changes their doctors gave them to manage their diabetes, according to the National Institutes of Health.
This information was determined by reviewing records from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Fetal Growth Studies–Singletons.
Researchers reviewed nearly 1,400 surveys from pregnant women about their diet. Of those women, just over 70 were diagnosed with gestational diabetes. An additional 1,875 surveys were reviewed about exercise during pregnancy. 84 were found to have gestational diabetes, according to the study.
What was revealed from the surveys was that the women with gestational diabetes lowered their daily carbohydrate intake by 48 grams, according to EurekAlert! This was done for most by decreasing daily sugar intake by 3.2 teaspoons per day and drinking 0.4 cups less juice daily.
The daily amounts of whole grains and fruit did not decrease and there were not any increases in the number of saturated fats added to the diet with the decrease in the consumed carbohydrates, according to the National Institutes of Health.
While the carbohydrate decrease is less than the researchers would have wanted to see, the results were not all bad news. By not adding additional fat to the diet to compensate for the decrease in carbohydrates, the pregnant women were keeping the risk of having a larger baby minimized. This, along with increasing the chances for having a C-section, preeclampsia, and hypoglycemia, are the main risks in being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
More promising still, researchers found that those who received the diabetes diagnosis were more apt to maintain their workout routines into the third trimester versus those who did not have gestational diabetes.
What researchers determined is that while some dietary changes are being made by women after a gestational diabetes diagnosis, there is still room for improvement. And the best way to make changes for the better starts with women's doctors and new approaches to tackling gestational diabetes.
Source: EurekAlert!, National Institutes of Health, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Centers for Disease Control