High egg intakes associated with increased risk of GDM

January 01, 0001

High egg intakes associated with increased risk of GDM

Higher egg and cholesterol intakes are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, their association with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has not been evaluated. The authors assessed such associations in both a prospective cohort study (1996-2008; 3,158 participants) and a case-control study (1998-2002; 185 cases, 411 controls). A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess maternal diet.

Compared with no egg consumption, adjusted relative risks for GDM were 0.94, 1.01, 1.12, 1.54, and 2.52 for consumption of less than or equal to 1, 2-3, 4-6, 7-9, and greater than or equal to 10 eggs/week, respectively. Women with high egg consumption (greater than or equal to 7/week) had a 1.77-fold increased risk compared with women with lower consumption. The relative risk for the highest quartile of cholesterol intake (greater than or equal to 294 mg/day) versus the lowest (less than 151 mg/day) was 2.35. In the case- control study, the adjusted odds ratio for consuming greater than or equal to 7 eggs/week versus less than 7 eggs/week was 2.65, and the odds of GDM increased with increasing cholesterol intake.

The researchers concluded: " … high egg and cholesterol intakes before and during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of GDM."

This is important epidemiologically and, probably, clinically.


For the full abstract, click here.

Am J Epidemiol published online 15 February 2011 © The Authour 2011
Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Relation to Maternal Egg and Cholesterol Intake. Chunfang Qiu, Ihunnaya O. Frederick, Cuilin Zhang et al. Correspondence to Chunfang Qiu: [email protected]

Category: T. Endocrine/Metabolic/Nutritional. Keywords: cholesterol, diabetes, gestational eggs, prospective cohort study, case-control study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Melbourne, Australia. Posted on Global Family Doctor 18 March 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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