Research paper

A Prospective Study of Prepregnancy Dietary Iron Intake and Risk for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes Care

Jun 2011

DOI: 10.2337/dc11-0134

Citations: 126

Influential: 7

Observational Studies (Human)

Study answer

What this study found

Higher prepregnancy dietary heme iron intake is positively associated with GDM risk. In multivariate models, extreme quintiles of heme iron intake yielded RRs of 2.13 (1.70–2.67) age-adjusted and 1.58 (1.21–2.08) fully adjusted (P for trend = 0.0001). Every 0.5 mg/day increase in heme iron intake was associated with RR 1.22 (1.10–1.36). No significant associations were found for total dietary iron, nonheme iron, or supplemental iron with GDM risk. Adjusting for red meat components attenuated the association; after additional adjustment for red meat, the RR for the highest quintile was 1.29…

Study & population: Prospective cohort study (Nurses' Health Study II).
Key limitation: Observational design with potential residual confounding; dietary assessment via FFQ subject to measurement error; GDM ascertainment based on self-report (though validated); dietary data during pregnancy not measured; cohort primarily white, educated nurses, limiting generalizability.

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Original abstract

OBJECTIVE It is important to identify modifiable factors that may lower gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) risk. Dietary iron is of particular interest given that iron is a strong prooxidant, and high body iron levels can damage pancreatic β-cell fu…