Intuitive Eating Behavior, Diet Quality and Metabolic Health in the Postpartum in Women with Gestational Diabetes

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 14; no. 20; p. 4272
• Main Authors: Quansah, Dan Yedu, Schenk, Sybille, Gilbert, Leah, Arhab, Amar, Gross, Justine, Marques-Vidal, Pedro-Manuel, Gonzalez Rodriguez, Elena, Hans, Didier, Horsch, Antje, Puder, Jardena J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.10.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Body fat; Body Mass Index; Complications and side effects; Diabetes; Diabetes in pregnancy; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes, Gestational; Diet; Diet - psychology; diet quality; dietary adherence; Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; Eating; Eating - psychology; Eating behavior; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Female; Food; Food and nutrition; Food habits; Gestational diabetes; Glucose; Health aspects; Health risks; Humans; Hunger; Insulin; Insulin Resistance; intuitive eating; Lifestyles; Longitudinal studies; Mental health; metabolic health; Metabolism; Mortality; Mothers; Nutrition research; Postpartum; Postpartum period; Postpartum Period - psychology; Pregnancy; Prevention; Risk factors; Satiety; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Womens health; Switzerland; dietary adherence; intuitive eating; postpartum; metabolic health; insulin resistance; diet quality
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu14204272

Little is known regarding intuitive eating (IE), diet quality and adherence. We investigated the associations between IE, diet quality and metabolic health after gestational diabetes (GDM), who have an increased diabetes risk. Data from 179 women with GDM from MySweetheart trial (NCT02872974) were analyzed. IE was assessed using the eating for physical rather than emotional reasons (EPR) and reliance on hunger and satiety cues (RHSC) subscales of the French Intuitive Eating Scale-2. Metabolic outcomes included weight, central body fat and insulin resistance. Diet quality was calculated using the Alternative Health Eating Index (AHEI) and compliance with national recommendations was evaluated. Both IE subscales were associated with lower BMI and fat mass (BIA) at 1-year postpartum (all ≤ 0.034). The EPR subscale inversely correlated with fat mass (DXA) and visceral adipose tissue (both ≤ 0.028), whereas RHSC with higher insulin sensitivity (Matsuda, = 0.034). RHSC during pregnancy predicted increased AHEI ( = 0.043) at 1-year postpartum, whilst EPR predicted lower fat mass and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (all ≤ 0.04). In longitudinal analyses, both subscales were associated with increased adherence to dairy and fiber intake recommendations (both ≤ 0.023). These data suggest IE may be an interesting approach to improve diet quality and metabolic outcomes in women with GDM.