Maternal diet during pregnancy. Study reveals exciting news

Diabetes in pregnancy can have adverse effects on the neurodevelopment of two-year-olds.

On the other hand, a new study, conducted at the University of Turku, Finland, has found that a healthy and complete diet for the mother supports the neurological development of the child, according to Neuroscience News.

Cognitive, language and motor skills

The health and lifestyle of the mother during pregnancy are important factors regulating the neurological development of the child. The mother and child study, conducted in collaboration with Turku University Hospital, examined how gestational diabetes, obesity and diet during pregnancy affect the neurodevelopment of two-year-old children.

The research project examined the development of children’s cognitive, language and motor skills. Maternal obesity was determined by air displacement plethysmography and gestational diabetes by an oral glucose tolerance test. Food intake during pregnancy was also assessed using a diet quality index and fish consumption questionnaires.

Pregnancy diabetes

Researcher Lotta Saros, from the University of Turku’s Institute of Biomedicine, said the data indicated the children’s neurological development was “on average, at normal rates”.

She also added that the research results showed that two-year-old children whose mothers had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes had lower language skills than children whose mothers had not been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. , adding that the study found that a high percentage of body fat in the mother is linked to poor cognitive, language and motor skills in children.

Sarros also noted that these findings are “unique because previous studies have not examined the relationship between maternal body composition and children’s neurodevelopment,” explaining that diabetes and obesity during pregnancy, and high body fat in particular have adverse effects on metabolism. It increases inflammation in the body, which is one of the possible mechanisms, which act as detrimental factors on the neurological development of the child.

Good diet for pregnant women

Professor Kirsi Laitinen, who heads the Early Nutrition and Health Research Group at the University of Turku, said the study also found that better nutritional quality of the mother’s diet was associated with a better language development for the child, and a similar finding was made on the link between maternal fish consumption and child neurological development. .

The results indicate that a good diet, which contains unsaturated fatty acids, such as omega-3 fatty acids in fish, leads to improved neurological development in children.