This study aimed to investigate the relationship between food intake (considering the nature, extent, and purpose of food processing) during pregnancy and overweight, obesity, and gestational diabetes mellitus conditions. This is a cross-sectional study conducted among 785 adult women in singleton pregnancies (between 24th and 39th weeks of gestation) in Brazil. Usual food intake was estimated by the Multiple Source Method, using two 24-hour dietary recalls. The food groups of interest in this study were the unprocessed or minimally processed foods and ultra-processed foods. The World Health Organization criteria for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus and the Atalah criteria for excess weight were used. Adjusted multinomial logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship between energy contribution (%E) from foods with overweight and obesity conditions and, adjusted logistic regression models for gestational diabetes mellitus. In total, 32.1% participants were overweight, 24.6% were obese, and 17.7% of women were diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus . After adjustments, an inverse association between the highest tertile of %E from the intake of unprocessed or minimally processed foods and obesity was found [0.49 (0.30-0.79)]. Moreover, a positive association between the highest tertile of %E from ultra-processed food intake [3.06 (1.27-3.37)] and obesity was observed. No association between food intake (considering the nature, extent, and purpose of food processing) during pregnancy and overweight or gestational diabetes mellitus was found. The findings suggest a role of food processing in obesity but not in gestational diabetes mellitus. Further research is warranted to provide robust evidence on the relationship between the role of processed foods in obesity and gestational diabetes mellitus.

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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the dietary patterns of pregnant women with maternal excessive body weight and gestational diabetes mellitus . METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted with a convenience sample of 785 adult pregnant women attended by the Unified Health System of Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo, between 2011 and 2012. Two 24-hour dietary recalls, corrected by the multiple source method, were employed. For the classification of the body mass index and the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus, the criteria by Atalah and the World Health Organization were used, respectively. Dietary patterns were obtained by principal component analysis using the Varimax rotation method. The relationship between adherence to patterns, overweight and obesity was analyzed by multinomial logistic regression models and the relationship with gestational diabetes mellitus by adjusted unconditional logistic regression models. RESULTS: We identified four dietary patterns: “traditional Brazilian”; “snacks”; “coffee” and “healthy”. Women with a higher adherence to the “Healthy” (OR = 0.52; 95%CI 0.33–0.83) and “Brazilian Traditional” patterns (OR = 0.61; 95%CI 0.38–0.96) presented a lower chance of obesity, when compared to women with lower adherence, regardless of confounding factors. After adjustment for maternal excessive body weight, there was no association between dietary patterns and gestational diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSIONS: Among the pregnant women, greater adherence to “traditional Brazilian” and “healthy” patterns was inversely associated with obesity, but no relationship was identified with gestational diabetes mellitus after adjusting for excessive body weight. Prospective studies are recommended to investigate the relationship between dietary patterns, overweight and gestational diabetes mellitus, reducing the chance of reverse causality