Dietary Inflammatory Index and sleep quality and duration among pregnant women with overweight or obesity

Study Objectives: Sleep disturbances, which can worsen during pregnancy, have been linked to inflammatory processes. This study tested the hypothesis that more pro-inflammatory diets during pregnancy are associated with a decrease in sleep quality and shorter sleep duration. Methods: The Health in Pregnancy and Postpartum study promoted a healthy lifestyle in pregnant women with pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity (n = 207). Data from <16 weeks and 32 weeks gestation were used. Sleep was measured using BodyMedia's SenseWear (R) armband. Diet was assessed using two 24-hr dietary recalls. Energy-density Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII (TM)) scores were calculated from micro and macronutrients. Linear mixed-effects models estimated the impact of the E-DII score on sleep parameters. Results: Women with more pro-inflammatory diets, compared to those with more anti-inflammatory diets, were more likely to be nulliparous (51% vs. 25%, p = 0.03), frequent consumers of fast food (29% vs. 10% consuming on 4-6 days during the previous week, p = 0.01), ever-smokers (21% vs. 6%, p = 0.02), and younger (mean age 29.2 vs. 31.3 years, p = 0.02). For every one-unit increase (i.e., more pro-inflammatory) in the E-DII score, sleep latency increased by 0.69 min (p < 0.01). Among European Americans only, every one-unit higher E-DII was associated with a 2.92-min longer wake-after-sleep-onset (p = 0.02). Conclusion: An E-DII score that is 5 points lower (i.e., more anti-inflammatory) would equate to about 105 min of additional sleep per week among European American women. Anti-inflammatory diets may help to counteract detriments in sleep during pregnancy, especially among European American women. Additional work is needed among African American women.

Automated summary

This study found that consuming more pro-inflammatory diets during pregnancy is associated with decreased sleep quality and shorter sleep duration. Among European American women, higher intake of pro-inflammatory foods is associated with longer wake-after-sleep-onset. Anti-inflammatory diets may help to improve sleep during pregnancy, especially among European American women.