Weight gain and dietary intake during pregnancy in industrialized countries--a systematic review of observational studies.

BACKGROUND Gestational weight gain (GWG) above the recently recommended ranges is likely to be related to adverse pregnancy outcomes and therefore a challenge in industrialized countries. AIMS We conducted a systematic review on observational studies in order to gain more evidence on whether diets with lower caloric/protein content or other diets might be associated with lower GWG. METHODS We searched in MEDLINE and EMBASE for observational studies written in English or German reporting associations between diet and GWG in singleton pregnancies of healthy women in industrialized countries. RESULTS We identified 12 studies which met the inclusion criteria. Five studies suggested significant positive associations between energy intake and GWG, whereas three found no significant association. Further significant positive associations of GWG were reported with respect to protein intake, animal lipids, energy density and a number of different food servings per day, whereas intake of carbohydrates and vegetarian diet were associated with less GWG. CONCLUSIONS We suggest that GWG might be reduced by lower energy intake in pregnancy.