‘Inflammatory’ Diet During Pregnancy Linked to Child Diabetes Risk

Pregnant women who consume a diet high in inflammation-promoting foods may be increasing their child’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes, a study found.

The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, suggest that an expectant mother’s diet could have long-term implications for her child’s immune health.

Researchers discovered that for every one-unit increase in a dietary inflammation score—called the EDII (Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index)—the child’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes rose by 16 percent.

The researchers’ hypothesis that an index of the maternal diet’s inflammatory properties would raise a child’s type 1 diabetes risk was based on theoretical considerations and aligned with their expectations.

“What really astonished us is that, all three factors in mid-pregnancy—an inflammatory dietary pattern (risk factor), a high gluten intake (risk fact), and smoking (seemingly a protective factor!), independently of each other, seemed to determine the child’s risk,” Professor Sjurdur F. Olsen told Newsweek.

This risk appeared to be independent of factors like the child’s sex or birth weight, but it was influenced by other maternal behaviors, including gluten intake and smoking during pregnancy.

The study is among the first large-scale investigations to link a pro-inflammatory maternal diet to type 1 diabetes in offspring, offering new insight into how prenatal nutrition may shape the immune system before birth.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The condition typically appears in childhood or adolescence and requires lifelong insulin therapy.

While genetics play a role, the consistent rise in type 1 diabetes diagnoses—about 3 to 4 percent per year in developed nations—points to significant environmental influences.

Researchers have long suspected that factors during early development, including in utero, may be critical to disease risk.

In this new study, scientists analyzed data from over 67,000 mother-child pairs from the Danish National Birth Cohort, tracking pregnancies from 1996 to 2002 and following children for an average of 17 years.

Scientists used detailed food frequency questionnaires completed at around 25 weeks of pregnancy to assign each mother an EDII score based on the inflammatory potential of her diet.

Higher scores were linked to greater consumption of red and processed meats, sugary drinks, refined grains, fried foods and trans fats, which have been deemed harmful to health.

Diets with more anti-inflammatory foods—such as leafy greens, garlic, tomatoes, whole grains, fruits, coffee and tea—were associated with lower scores.

Out of the 67,701 children tracked, 281 developed type 1 diabetes, with the average age of diagnosis being 10.

Notably, the study found that three maternal factors during mid-pregnancy—an inflammatory diet, higher gluten intake and smoking—were all independently associated with a greater risk of type 1 diabetes in children.

A 10-gram increase in daily gluten consumption was linked to a 36 percent rise in risk.

“Mid-pregnancy may be a critical period during which the fetus is particularly susceptible to maternal lifestyle influences,” the authors wrote, suggesting this stage as a window of opportunity for prevention.

The study’s lead researchers say that, while the study is observational and cannot prove causality, the patterns are compelling.

“A low-grade inflammatory state … is increasingly acknowledged as a critical early-life factor influencing offspring health,” they added, emphasizing that the immune system begins developing well before birth.

Professor Sjurdur F. Olsen told Newsweek the next step in this research is to further investigate the underlying mechanisms. “The American research foundation ‘The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’ has supported lab analyses where we are measuring immune and inflammatory markers,” he said. “This may help us see what is going on.”

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Update 7/2/25, 04:28 a.m. ET: This article was updated with exclusive comments from Professor Sjurdur F. Olsen.

Reference

Noorzae, R., Bjerregaard, A. A., Halldorsson, T. I., Granström, C., Brantsæter, A. L., Borge, T., Caspersen, I. H., Svensson, J., Stene, L. C. M., Antvorskov, J. C., Giovannucci, E. L., Christiansen, M., Pociot, F., & Olsen, S. F. (2025). Association between a pro-inflammatory dietary pattern during pregnancy and type 1 diabetes risk in offspring: Prospective cohort study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.