Background The consumption of dairy products has been suggested to be associated with the prevention of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes. However, it is unclear whether dairy consumption has a protective effect on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study aimed to investigate the prospective associations between pre-pregnancy dairy consumption and risk of GDM among Chinese women. Methods A total of 1,012 women aged 18–40 years were enrolled from a prospective cohort between 2022 and 2024. Dairy consumption 1 year before pregnancy was collected by food frequency questionnaire. To screen for GDM, participants were scheduled for an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) at 24–28 weeks of gestation. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analyses were conducted to analyze the associations between dairy consumption and risk of GDM. Results During the follow-up, 126 (12.5%) were diagnosed with GDM. Compared with non-consumers of room-temperature-storage yogurt, women in the highest tertile of consumption had 2.64-fold higher odds of GDM (OR: 2.64, 95% CI: 1.25–5.38) after adjusting for potential confounders. In subgroup analyses, the positive associations between room-temperature-storage yogurt consumption and risk of GDM were observed in women who were 30 years and older, whose pre-pregnancy BMI was lower than 24.0 kg/m 2 , and who were multiparas. No significant association was found for consumption of total dairy, whole milk, low-fat milk, refrigerated yogurt, or pregnant milk powder. Conclusion Our results indicated that higher consumption of room-temperature-storage yogurt before pregnancy might be a risk factor for GDM. Further research is warranted to elucidate the underlying associations and mechanisms between dairy consumption and GDM.
Li et al. (Wed,) studied this question.