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Gestational Diabetes Research and Management / Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Journal article
Nutrients · September 6, 2026
Encouraging direction, but not yet definitive.
In a prospective cohort of 252 Mediterranean mother–child pairs, higher maternal intake of fruits and vegetables during pregnancy was associated with substantially lower odds of overweight/obesity in offspring at age 4 (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.13–0.74). Commercial fruit juice showed the opposite association (OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.06–5.78), though the authors note this finding is exploratory and requires confirmation.
Prospective observational cohort study. 252 mother–child pairs from the Mediterranean ECLIPSES cohort; assessment of childhood outcome at 4 years of age.. Intervention: Maternal consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fruit juices during pregnancy (exposure levels assessed via FFQ).. Compared with: Lower maternal consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fruit juices (reference category in logistic regression).. n = 252. Mediterranean region (cohort location not further specified in abstract)..
Higher maternal consumption of fruits and vegetables inversely associated with overweight/obesity in children at 4 years: OR 0.31 [95% CI 0.13–0.74] Higher consumption of commercial fruit juice associated with increased odds of overweight/obesity: OR 2.48 [95% CI 1.06–5.78] No associations observed for total or natural fruit juice consumption
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Clinicians counseling pregnant women may consider emphasizing combined fruits and vegetables as part of prenatal nutrition guidance; however, this finding requires replication in larger, more diverse populations before integration into routine prenatal counselling. The commercial fruit juice finding warrants independent confirmation before clinical recommendations.
Prospective cohort study with validated dietary assessment showing inverse association between maternal fruit/vegetable intake and offspring overweight/obesity, but limited by modest sample size, observational design, and single Mediterranean population.
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Quoted from the source exactly as published.
Clinicians counseling pregnant women may consider emphasizing combined fruits and vegetables as part of prenatal nutrition guidance; however, this finding requires replication in larger, more diverse populations before integration into routine prenatal counselling. The commercial fruit juice finding warrants independent confirmation before clinical recommendations.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Background/Objectives: Maternal diet plays a crucial role in fetal development and may influence offspring weight development. Although fruits and vegetables provide nutritional and metabolic benefits during pregnancy, evidence regarding their specific role on childhood overweight/obesity remains limited. This study aimed to examine the association between maternal intake of fruits, vegetables, and fruit juices during pregnancy and the risk of overweight/obesity in children at 4 years of age. Methods: We analyzed 252 mother–child pairs from the Mediterranean ECLIPSES cohort in a prospective observational study. Maternal dietary intake was assessed at 12, 24 and 36 weeks of gestation using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire previously validated in a Spanish population. Childhood overweight/obesity was defined as a BMI z-score above the 85th percentile for age and sex at age 4. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models estimated ORs and 95% CIs. Results: Higher maternal consumption of fruits and vegetables was inversely associated with overweight/obesity in children (OR: 0.31 [0.13–0.74]). No associations were observed for total or natural fruit juice, whereas higher consumption of commercial fruit juice was associated with increased odds of overweight/obesity (OR: 2.48 [1.06–5.78]). Conclusions: Higher maternal combined consumption of fruits and vegetables during pregnancy was associated with lower odds of overweight or obesity in offspring at 4 years of age, whereas the opposite association was observed for commercial, but not natural, fruit juice. These associations may involve both prenatal biological and postnatal behavioral and family dietary pathways; however, the commercial fruit juice finding should be considered exploratory and requires confirmation in larger prospective studies.
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