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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1464748
This article is part of the Research Topic The First 1000 Days: Window of Opportunity for Child Health and Development View all 11 articles

Mala flavor preference increases risk of excessive gestational weight gain mediated by high-carbohydrate dietary patterns in Chongqing, China: An ambispective cohort study

Provisionally accepted
Jing Hua Li Jing Hua Li 1Di Fei Wang Di Fei Wang 2Yanyan Mao Yanyan Mao 2Wu Xia Zhang Wu Xia Zhang 1Qian Xi Zhu Qian Xi Zhu 2Jun Liu Jun Liu 3Jing Du Jing Du 2Wei Jin Zhou Wei Jin Zhou 2,3Fen Wang Fen Wang 1Min Li Min Li 2*
  • 1 Kaizhou District Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Chongqing, China
  • 2 Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China
  • 3 NHC Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Reproductive Health, Chongqing Population and Family Planning Science and Technology Research Institute, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Taste preference drives food selection, acceptance, or rejection and influences nutritional status and body mass index. Nevertheless, there are few reports concerning pregnant women. Mala flavor，characterized by its “numbing” and “spicy” sensations, is a distinctive taste of Sichuan cuisine, created by the combination of Chinese prickly ash and chili peppers. We conducted a cohort study in Chongqing, China to analyze the impact of Mala flavor, on excessive gestational weight gain (GWG). The study included 495 pregnant women aged 20–45 years, without chronic diseases, who conceived naturally and had single pregnancies from May 2021 to November 2022, were included. Demographic information and pregnancy outcomes were collected during the second trimester and poste-delivery, respectively. Food intake and taste preferences, including fatty, salty, and Mala flavors, were assessed during the third trimester. Latent Profile Analysis revealed three dietary patterns: “high-carbohydrate diet” (HCD), “low-carbohydrate diet”, and “low-nutrient diet” (LND). Multiple logistic regression indicated that pregnant women preferring Mala flavor were more likely to follow an HCD and had a higher risk of excessive GWG. Moreover, those adhering to an HCD were at an increased risk of excessive GWG. Mediation analysis showed that the preference for Mala flavor influenced excessive GWG through HCDs, with a significant indirect effect and an insignificant direct effect. Our study suggests that a preference for Mala flavor is positively associated with excessive GWG, mediated by HCD patterns. However, these findings should be approached with caution due to the exploratory nature of the study.

    Keywords: Pregnant Women, Dietary patterns, taste preference, gestational weight gain, Mediation analysis

    Received: 15 Jul 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Wang, Mao, Zhang, Zhu, Liu, Du, Zhou, Wang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Min Li, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China

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