Food as medicine for gestational diabetes

The rate of gestational diabetes among pregnant individuals in the U.S. has increased in recent years, raising alarms among health experts as it exacerbates the nation’s maternal mortality crisis. This increase, linked to rising obesity rates and limited access to prenatal care in many communities, underscores the urgent need for systemic interventions to protect maternal health.

Northwestern Medicine, Brown University and California Polytechnic State University are part of a new nationwide study to examine whether medically tailored meals can help address the rise in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

The five-year study, funded by a $10 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), will be one of the first to pair medically tailored meals with existing home-visiting programs to target GDM. The approach has been shown to improve health outcomes and reduce food insecurity, but little research has examined its use to treat GDM specifically.

“‘Food-as-medicine’ approaches are gaining increasing attention, with this project being among the first to rigorously evaluate the impact of medically tailored meals on managing gestational diabetes and preventing diabetes,” said Darius Tandon, professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who will co-lead the collaboration in the Midwest and South.

The U.S. ranks lowest among high-income countries for maternal health. GDM, and the subsequent development of Type 2 diabetes, is a major cause of maternal morbidity, especially among under-resourced people. Roughly one-third to almost half of people diagnosed with GDM during pregnancy develop diabetes or pre-diabetes in the year after giving birth.

The condition has also been shown to affect children, as intrauterine exposure to GDM increases the risk of rapid weight gain during infancy and the later development of obesity and diabetes. Researchers believe treating the condition will offer “cross-generational” benefits.

The study will work with families already enrolled in home-visiting programs, offering meals formulated specifically for people at risk for GDM. Some participants will receive additional information on lifestyle changes to help prevent the disease.

Home-visiting programs are currently available in every state and territory, providing services for at least 500,000 women and children in the U.S.

“Home visiting is an innovative setting for delivering lifestyle interventions,” said Tandon, who also is the director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine Center for Community Health at Northwestern. “This project has the potential to be highly impactful if found to be successful given the nationwide reach of home-visiting programs.”

Notes

The study was selected through PCORI’s highly competitive review process in which patients, caregivers and other stakeholders join scientists to evaluate proposals.

In addition to Tandon, the research team includes Dr. Jenny Jia of Northwestern; Rena Wing and Stephanie Parade of Brown University; and Suzanne Phelan of California Polytechnic State University.