Discussion
macrosomia
LATE PREGNANCY
In this study, we found that mothers’ consumption of processed meat during late pregnancy was associated with macrosomia. Although no statistically significant associations were found between children’s birth weight status and mothers’ fruit, vegetable, soft drink, fast food and chips consumptions, the risk of macrosomia decreased with increasing the number of dietary recommendations met by a mother. These findings suggest that encouraging mothers to meet more dietary recommendations, especially avoiding processed meat during pregnancy, may reduce the chance of having high birth weight.The study also showed the risk of having macrosomia increased with an increase in the items of ‘Junk Food’ consumed by the mother. This finding is aligned with another Australian study on 368 first-time mothers showing maternal ‘junk food’ diet increased the risk of having a macrosomic infantThe current study did not find associations of maternal fruit and vegetable intakes with their child’s birth weight. These findings are aligned with a systematic review, which found inconclusive evidence of a specific protective effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on infant birth weightThe current study found that more than half of the mothers did not meet the dietary recommendations for vegetable (≥5 serves/day), fast food (no), processed meat (no) and chips (no) during pregnancy. Although the majority (91 %) did not meet the recommendation for vegetables, more than half reported having 2–4 serves of vegetables per day. The vegetable consumption of our study participants was comparable with another study in Australia that found only 10 % of pregnant women met the recommendation, with a median of 2 serves per dayIn this study, we did not find associations between mothers’ sedentary time and children’s birth weight status. In contrast to the data on maternal physical activity and pregnancy outcomes, research on association between sedentary behaviours and birth weight is scarce and with conflicting findings. Three studies found no association between sedentary behaviour during pregnancy and birth weight