NEW DELHI: Consumption of ultra-processed food during pregnancy may negatively impact the child's growth, according to the latest study's findings.
The study found that the children's head circumference and femur length was lower in cases where mothers consumed ultra-processed food on a weekly or daily as compared to no consumption. No impact was found on the abdominal circumference. The study published in the British Journal of Nutrition is based on research in Brazil on the food consumption patterns of 417 mothers and its impact on their children. Out of the total sample, nearly half of the mothers were primiparous or pregnant for the first time, with an average age of 24.7 years.
"Frequency of UPF consumption was negatively associated with skeletal components of fetal growth in late pregnancy. Infant body composition may benefit from healthy food practices since pregnancy," the study found.
According to Dr. Arun Gupta, senior paediatrician, and convener of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), a national think-tank of independent medical experts, paediatricians and nutritionists, the study adds evidence in the area not much studied so far. “Most of the studies have been on the adult population. It shows the negative impact of daily consumption of ultra-processed food products during pregnancy on the growth of newborn babies,” he told this paper. “Implication of this is on dietary guidelines to promote healthy food diets and avoid UPFs during pregnancy to achieve better fetal growth outcomes,” he added.
UPFs are industrial formulations made by deconstructing natural food into chemical constituents. It destroys the fundamental food matrix.
Fibre content is ripped off, and sugars, fats, or salts are added. It is modified with cosmetic additives such as emulsifiers, stabilisers, colouring agents, and flavours.
Increased intake of UPFs is known to be associated with a higher incidence of non-communicable diseases such as overweight, diabetes, cancers, heart diseases, and overall deaths.
Each 10% increase in consumption of UPF daily is associated with a 15 percent higher risk of type-2 diabetes.
The study further said that infant body composition may benefit from healthy food practices since pregnancy, Peri-conceptional maternal ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption impairs embryonic growth, it added.
Many countries have come out with dietary guidelines to encourage people to include more unprocessed foods in their diet, including Brazil, Belgium, Israel and Uruguay.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently released new guidelines on policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing.
The guideline recommended countries implement comprehensive mandatory policies to protect children of all ages from the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages that are high in saturated fatty acids, trans-fatty acids, free sugars, and/or salt (HFSS).