Does poor diet cause premature births?

• April 30, 2024

Women with some subsistence allowance bad before pregnancy are more likely to give birth prematurely than women who have healthy diets, confirms a new Australian study.

"Premature birth is an important cause of diseases and infant deaths, and occurs in about one in ten pregnancies throughout the world, "said the study's lead author, the doctor Jessica Grieger, postdoctoral research fellow at the Robinson Research Institute of the University of Adelaide .

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Everything we can do to better understand the conditions that lead to birth premature will be important to help improve survival and long-term health outcomes for children. "

The research does not prove that bad eating habits directly cause premature births, but broadens the evidence that links both.

The findings, which will be published in the July print edition of the journal Journal of Nutrition, they are based on an analysis of the diets of more than 300 Australian women. The researchers focused on diets in the 12 months before conception.

"In our study, women who ate protein-rich foods that included lean meats, fish and chicken, in addition to fruit, whole grains and vegetables, had a risk of Birth prematurely significantly lower, "Grieger said.

"On the other hand, women who consumed mostly discretionary foods, such as take-away, chips, cakes, cookies and other foods rich in saturated fat and sugar were more likely to have their babies born prematurely," he added.

Grieger will present the findings on Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Australian Medical Research Society (Australian Society for Medical Research).