Food Insecurity in Pregnancy Linked to Perinatal Complications

MONDAY, Jan. 27, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Food insecurity in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk for perinatal complications, according to a study published online Jan. 23 in JAMA Network Open.

Rana Chehab, Ph.D., from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Pleasanton, and colleagues conducted a cohort study using data from a pregnancy survey conducted at Kaiser Permanente Northern California between June 22, 2020, and Sept. 9, 2022, to examine whether food insecurity in pregnancy is associated with the risk for perinatal complications.

Fourteen percent of the 19,338 individuals reported food insecurity in pregnancy. The researchers found that the risks for gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, and a composite adverse perinatal outcome (APO) of maternal and neonatal complications were higher for individuals with versus those without food insecurity in pregnancy (adjusted relative risks, 1.13, 1.28, 1.19, 1.23, and 1.07, respectively). Associations of food insecurity with perinatal complications were attenuated to the null for the 7.6 percent of individuals who received food assistance during pregnancy, apart from preeclampsia (adjusted relative risk, 1.64). In contrast, the associations persisted among those who did not receive food assistance (adjusted relative risks, 1.20, 1.24, 1.23, 1.31, and 1.12 for gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth, NICU admission, and APO, respectively).

“Public health efforts and policies should support food assistance programs and ensure wider participation to help address food insecurity in pregnancy as a step forward to ensure equitable prenatal care and pregnancy outcomes,” the authors write.

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