Pregnancy and fasting during Ramadan.

Reeves, Jennifer A.

doi:10.1136/bmj.304.6830.843-d

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Contemporary evidence on Ramadan fasting behaviours undertaken by pregnant women in the UK is scarce, with the last survey published in 1982 [5]. As objective measurement of fasting is difficult, it remains unclear if fasting behaviours are consistent across populations, particularly between Western and majority Muslim countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences and outcomes of maternal Ramadan fasting during pregnancy: results from a sub-cohort of the Born in Bradford birth cohort study

Petherick

Tuffnell

Wright

2014

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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BackgroundObserving the fast during the holy month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Although pregnant women and those with pre-existing illness are exempted from fasting many still choose to fast during this time. The fasting behaviours of pregnant Muslim women resident in Western countries remain largely unexplored and relationships between fasting behaviour and offspring health outcomes remain contentious. This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence, characteristics of fasting behaviours and offspring health outcomes in Asian and Asian British Muslim women within a UK birth cohort.MethodsProspective cohort study conducted at the Bradford Royal Infirmary UK from October to December 2010 comprising 310 pregnant Muslim women of Asian or Asian British ethnicity that had a live singleton birth at the Bradford Royal Infirmary. The main outcome of the study was the decision to fast or not during Ramadan. Secondary outcomes were preterm births and mean birthweight. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship between covariables of interest and women’s decision to fast or not fast. Logistic regression was also used to investigate the relationship between covariables and preterm birth as well as low birth weight.ResultsMutually adjusted analysis showed that the odds of any fasting were higher for women with an obese BMI at booking compared to women with a normal BMI, (OR 2.78 (95% C.I. 1.29-5.97)), for multiparous compared to nulliparous women(OR 3.69 (95% C.I. 1.38-9.86)), and for Bangladeshi origin women compared to Pakistani origin women (OR 3.77 (95% C.I. 1.04-13.65)). Odds of fasting were lower in women with higher levels of education (OR 0.40 (95% C.I. 0.18-0.91)) and with increasing maternal age (OR 0.87 (95% C.I. 0.80-0.94). No associations were observed between fasting and health outcomes in the offspring.ConclusionsPregnant Muslim women residing in the UK who fasted during Ramadan differed by social, demographic and lifestyle characteristics compared to their non-fasting peers. Fasting was not found to be associated with adverse birth outcomes in this sample although these results require confirmation using reported fasting data in a larger sample before the safety of fasting during pregnancy can be established.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2393-14-335) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences and outcomes of maternal Ramadan fasting during pregnancy: results from a sub-cohort of the Born in Bradford birth cohort study

Petherick

Tuffnell

Wright

2014

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Accelerated starvation is noticed in pregnant women compared with nonpregnant women after only 12 hours of fasting. 6 After a period of fasting for 13 hours or more, maternal corticotrophin-releasing hormone is elevated compared with those without food for periods less than 13 hours.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal Ramadan Fasting and Neonatal Health

Kavehmanesh

Abolghasemi

2004

J Perinatol

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This retrospective cohort study sought to determine the effects of maternal Ramadan fasting during pregnancy on neonatal birth weight as an important aspect of fetal health. It was carried out among healthy women who were admitted for their neonate delivery at two medical centers in Tehran from January to September 2000. Neonates of 284 mothers with a history of Ramadan fasting during pregnancy were compared with neonates of 255 mothers who did not have a history of fasting during their pregnancies. On univariate analysis, neonatal birth weight of the fasted group was 100 g more than those of the nonfasted group (p ¼ 0.009). However, body mass index (BMI) of the fasted mothers was greater than that of the nonfasted mothers. When controlling for maternal BMI on neonatal birth weight, multiple linear regression models showed that neonates of fasted women were 71 g heavier than those of the nonfasted group, which was not statistically significant (p ¼ 0.1). We conclude that maternal fasting during Ramadan did not have a significant effect on the neonatal birth weight. Other health effects that we did not observe could have occurred.

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Dietary changes among diabetes patients during ramadan in Saudi Arabia

Ai-Rubeaan

1998

Pract. Diab. Int.

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MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES MELLITUS DURING THE HOLY MONTH OF RAMADANsecond study, are shown in the Table. The total daily energy intake increased during Ramadan and the energy from each of the three dietary components was significantly incmsed. As a result there were no real changes in the distribution of daily calorie intake apart from a slight increase in lipid from 35.7% to 36.9% during Ramadan. Body weight did not change significantly (before Ramadan 71.3 f 11.2 kg, after Ramadan 7 1.7 * 11 Skg) in spite of increased daily calorie intake and reduced or non-existing physical activity. DISCUSSIONThe metabolic control of the fasting patients in this study was not satisfactory but fasting did not significantly alter it, although there was a tendency for deterioration. Medical advice is often not followed and there is determination among the patients to follow fasting even in those who have degenerative complications. There are a limited number of studies that have examined this subject and the majority have involved patients with unacceptable metabolic control. Most studies have examined patients treated with oral hypoglycaemic agents, while there are no large clinical studies with patients treated with insulin. Very few studies address changes in dietary content which is an important part of diabetes treatment. The present results show significant changes, which indicate that physicians should focus on educating patients on the importance of a balanced diet during Ramadan. QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR Question 1It would appear from your results that the measurement of HbA,c is not adequate for m o n it o ring g 1 u c os e con t ro 1 du ring Ramadan and that blood glucose monitoring is necessary. Do you think that fructosamine determination may provide a better method? Dr KadiriWe noted that blood glucose showed changes, but not HbAlc. However, because HbAlc varies over a period of time we should perhaps have seen some change. We would suggest that this should be studied in a larger population with blood glucose monitoring and to correlate this with fructosamine measurements. Question 2The HbA,c levels reported were rather high if the normal range was comparable to others. What was the normal range used and did the results indicate that the patients had poor diabetic control? Dr KadiriThe study reported examined a very poorly controlled patient population. Whether results from this poorly controlled population can be extrapolated to a well controlled population remains an open question.

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Pregnancy and fasting during Ramadan.

Cited by 9 publications

References 4 publications

Experiences and outcomes of maternal Ramadan fasting during pregnancy: results from a sub-cohort of the Born in Bradford birth cohort study

Experiences and outcomes of maternal Ramadan fasting during pregnancy: results from a sub-cohort of the Born in Bradford birth cohort study

Maternal Ramadan Fasting and Neonatal Health

Dietary changes among diabetes patients during ramadan in Saudi Arabia

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