Study Finds Low-Quality Diets Are Pervasive Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women

According to a new study led by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the majority of women have low-quality diets during pregnancy and their first year postpartum.

The authors tracked the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI) scores of a sample of 383 women during six study visits (each pregnancy trimester and six weeks, six months, and one year postpartum). The HEI is a diet quality score based on federal guidelines for healthy eating. Participants received an HEI score on a scale of 0-100 based on their adequate consumption of 10 food categories (total fruit, whole fruit, total vegetables, greens and beans, whole grains, dairy, total protein, seafood, plant proteins, and fatty acids) and their moderate consumption of four groups (refined grains, sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats).

Overall, the average HEI score for participating women was 61.6. While this is a higher rating than the average score of the overall U.S. adult population, the mean HEI rating of the study’s participants equates to a D on the traditional A-F scale. Furthermore, the scores of the study participants varied based on several socioeconomic characteristics and health histories. The highest HEI scores were recorded among women with at least a bachelor’s degree, as well as those with no history of smoking. In contrast, the lowest mean HEI scores were found among women enrolled in more than one federal assistance program and those with higher body mass indexes.

The authors highlight that although some groups are at greater risk for diet-related pregnancy complications than others, it is clear that low quality diets are pervasive among most pregnant and postpartum women. They believe their findings suggest an urgent need for policymakers and providers to improve their support programs and dietary guidelines in prenatal care.

The research team included authors from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Glotech, Inc.