LOS ANGELES, Nov 01, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Mothers who eat plenty of
vegetables during pregnancy will have children who are less likely to have type
1 diabetes, a new study suggests.
The risk of type 1 diabetes was twice as high in children whose mothers rarely
ate vegetables during pregnancy, and lowest among children whose mothers ate
vegetables every day of their pregnancy, according to the study published in the
latest issue of the journal Pediatric Diabetes.
The study was based on analysis of 6,000 five-year-olds, of whom three percent
either had fully developed type 1 diabetes or had elevated levels of antibodies
that indicate a risk of developing the disease.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy of the University
of Gothenburg in Sweden, is the first of its kind to show a link between
vegetable intake during pregnancy and the risk of the child subsequently
developing type 1 diabetes.
More studies of various kinds will be needed before a definitive conclusion can
be drawn, said study author Hilde Brekke, a clinical nutritionist at the
academy.
"We cannot say with certainty on the basis of this study that it's the
vegetables themselves that have this protective effect, but other factors
related to vegetable intake, such as the mother' s standard of education, do not
seem to explain the link," Brekke said. "Nor can this protection be explained by
other measured dietary factors or other known risk factors."
While it's not known what actually causes type 1 diabetes, factors believed to
play a role include immunological mechanisms, environmental toxins and genetic
variations. Type 1 diabetes occurs throughout the world but is most common in
Finland and Sweden.