Dietary Protein Intake, Meat Consumption, and Dairy Consumption in the Year Preceding Pregnancy and During Pregnancy and Their Associations With the Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Cohort Study in Southwest China

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has become a public health problem in China. To examine the association of dietary protein intake before and during pregnancy with the risk of GDM. Dietary intake before pregnancy and during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy was assessed using food frequency questionnaires in a prospective cohort of pregnant women. To screen GDM, participants underwent an OGTT test during 24-28 weeks of gestation. Cox proportional hazards were used to estimate RRs and 95% CIs for the associations between tertiles of dietary protein and the source of protein intake in different time windows with GDM status. Higher intake of total protein [RR (95% CI): 1.92 (1.10-3.14), for trend = 0.04] or animal protein [1.67 (1.19-2.93), for trend = 0.03] in mid-pregnancy was associated with higher risk of GDM. Vegetable protein intake before or during pregnancy was not related to GDM risk ( for trend > 0.05). Moreover, in the mid-pregnancy, participants with higher meat consumption or dairy consumption had a higher risk of GDM. Our study indicated that higher dietary intakes of total protein and animal protein in mid-pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of GDM among pregnant Chinese women.