This is one of the few studies conducted in Brazil that aims to identify patterns of dietary consumption during pregnancy and their relation to birth weight. It uses robust methodological modelling of follow-up and a convenient framework of multivariate data analysis, permitting the estimation of a series of relationships between variables. This study provides a convenient framework of multivariate data analysis and allows the estimation of a series of relationships between variables.
In this sense, it was found that consumption of meat, eggs, fried/savoury foods, and processed food products (pattern 1) and consumption of sugar and sweets (pattern 4) in the third trimester had a direct and negative impact on birth weight, reducing it by 98.42 g and 92.03 g, respectively.
Although some of these foods, such as meat and eggs, included in pattern 1, contain protein of high biological value that has a recognised physiological function in pregnancy, these foods are mainly fried because of the cultural influence in the population of the local municipality. Savoury, fried, and processed food products, contain high levels of saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol in their composition, which negatively affect the health of the individual and can also adversely affect new born birth weight [26].
Further, dietary pattern 3 (coffee and butter/margarine) during the third trimester significantly impacts birth weight in an indirect fashion, causing complications during pregnancy. Although this effect was small (β = -0.11) at the sample level, the overall risk could be significant.
The third dietary pattern had an indirect association with anaemia. Observational studies show that coffee consumption is associated with anaemia [26]. However, the inhibitory effect of coffee on iron absorption can be partially reduced by the concurrent intake of vitamin C-rich foods and foods of animal origin [26]. Therefore, pregnant women should limit coffee consumption and avoid drinking coffee with meals [26].
Thus, the third dietary pattern may favour weight gain during pregnancy, increasing the likelihood of complications during pregnancy (hypertension, diabetes, anaemia) as well as reducing the availability of essential nutrients for the proper development of the foetus.
The patterns of dietary consumption identified among the women in this study are similar to those found in the Brazilian population as a whole, which is explained by changes taking place in this population's diet, reflected in its epidemiological and nutritional profile at the different stages of life.
In Brazil, as in other countries, these changes are related to changes in lifestyle, which are expressed in the reduction in daily caloric expenditure; increased consumption of saturated fats, simple sugars, and processed foods; and reduced consumption of fruits and vegetables. This dietary pattern is a matter of concern at all stages of life, and during pregnancy, it can be associated with poor maternal health conditions and compromise foetal growth and development. The lack or excess of nutrients during pregnancy can lead to morbid complications for both the mother and foetus, impacting the child's health at later stages of life [1, 8, 26, 27].
The four different dietary patterns identified in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy represented 50.45% and 49.03%, respectively, of the total consumption variance, indicating that the patterns extracted actually represent the eating habits of the population being studied.
The dietary intake profile of the pregnant women in this study predominantly consisted of foods rich in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sugars, and sodium and poor in vegetables and fruit, which are good sources of fibre and micronutrients. This dietary profile, in a critical period of human development such as pregnancy, has consequences for the mother and foetus [28, 29].
In the trimesters evaluated, we reported the consumption of fruits, but at an extremely low frequency on a daily basis, accounting for only 9.11% in the first and 13.28% in the third trimester. This low consumption particularly restricts the availability of vitamins, minerals, nutrients that directly impact appropriate weight and size at birth. Observational studies found that fruit consumption during pregnancy is conducive to adequate weight and size at birth and associated with a low incidence of preterm birth [29, 30].
One similar study involving pregnant women reported two patterns of food consumption: healthy (local preparations containing maize flour and maize meal, yams, fruits, vegetables, meat, and eggs) and unhealthy (sweetened drinks, ice cream, chocolate drinks, and soda) [31]. The healthy pattern was found to offer protection against low birth weight. In another study, maternal food pattern consisting of fruits, nuts, Cantonese desserts, and a varied diet (pasta, bread, vegetables, poultry, meats, fish, seafood, yogurt, and beans) was associated with high birth weight [32].
This study highlights the epidemiological importance of assessing the dietary intake of pregnant women during pregnancy; we identified the different consumption patterns during each trimester and associated these patterns to the different nutritional needs in these periods.
The need to avoid imbalanced food consumption must be emphasised, both in relation to excess and deficit. The adoption of healthy living habits, with a varied dietary intake, qualitatively balanced in nutrients and energy so as to meet each trimester's nutritional needs, allows satisfactory physiological adaptations of the maternal organism and adequate foetal growth and development. Women who intend to become pregnant should maintain a healthy lifestyle, which includes maintaining a healthy weight, practicing physical activity, stopping tobacco and alcohol use, and adopting a balanced diet [33]. In addition to all of these measures, pregnant woman must maintain a balanced weight and adequate vitamin and mineral supplementation. All of these factors contribute to maternal health and reduce the risk of negative outcomes for newborns [31]. In this sense, maintaining healthy eating habits is a requirement both before and during gestation. In Brazil, the Ministry of Health recommends following the guidelines of the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population as a practice of healthy eating [34].
Despite the need to follow the nutritional recommendations in this stage of life, evidence from a meta-analysis on micronutrient intake during pregnancy shows that women in this period ingest an insufficient quantity of micronutrients as opposed to the recommended values [35].
It is known that when pregnant women begin their pregnancy with an age-appropriate weight, their nutritional reserves (energy and nutrients) supply the foetus with its nutritional needs in the first trimester [36], which may be associated with the absence of a correlation between maternal dietary consumption in the first trimester and foetal growth and development in this period, as seen in this study.
However, some methodological issues of this study should be considered, especially regarding techniques of collection and analysis of dietary intake; sufficient measures were adopted to minimise the measurement biases that could be caused by recall, such as the use of a photo album containing pictures of food portions during the investigation of dietary consumption.
In this study, factor analysis with the principal component technique was adopted to identify dietary consumption patterns. Still, this method is not without criticism, mainly due to the subjectivity in determining the number of factors to be extracted. This restriction has been minimised with the adoption of methodological assumptions in the statistical model [37].
It is understood that losses in monitoring may contribute to selection bias in the investigated sample. However, on statistical analysis of the losses, it was noted that these did not differ in the sample throughout the monitoring period for some exposure variables, for example, pre-gestational anthropometric status, maternal age, income, education, smoking and alcohol consumption (data not shown in table), which indicates that the losses occurred at random. Of note, the losses were negligible (12%), so it was unlikely that they resulted in biased results.
Thus, longitudinal studies with a broad methodology for assessing consumption, suitable to the complexity of the Brazilian population's diet, generate consistent information that can support the definition and implementation of health measures for ensuring adequate nutrition during pregnancy. The objective is to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality rates and guarantee ideal health and nutritional conditions for foetal growth and development.
The results of this study indicate that unhealthy dietary consumption in the third trimester has negative effects on birth weight in two ways. Patterns one (meat, eggs, fried snacks, processed foods) and four (sugars and sweets) directly impact birth weight, by reducing it. The third pattern (coffee and butter / margarine), which also indicates inadequate intake, has the same impact on birth weight, however it acts indirectly, mediating the occurrence of increased morbidity.
These findings are relevant to the field of nutritional health for mothers and their infants, since food consumption is considered a modifiable factor, and dietary and nutritional interventions during gestation, which are important determinants of birth weight, could contribute positively to the health of the mother and foetus.