The Effect of Food Environment on Pregnancy Outcomes

Authors

Tiffany A. Clinton, Henry Ford HealthFollow
D'Angela S. Pitts, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Jessica Flint, Henry Ford Health
Alicia Speak, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Allison Fly, Henry Ford Health
Sun Kwon Kim, Henry Ford HealthFollow

Recommended Citation

Clinton TA, Pitts DS, Flint J, Speak A, Fly A, Kim S. The Effect of Food Environment on Pregnancy Outcomes. Obstet Gynecol 2024; 143(5S):37S-38S.

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

5-1-2024

Publication Title

Obstet Gynecol

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In large urban cities, fast food restaurants and convenient stores dominate the food sector leaving limited access to quality healthy foods. Food insecurity is a modifiable risk factor of social drivers of health. We hypothesize that low-access food environment is associated with gestational diabetes, preterm deliveries, hypertensive disorders, and other comorbidities. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed to determine the effects of food environment on pregnancy outcome using geographic data from 3,898 patients who delivered after 20 weeks of gestation in a large inner-city hospital between 2014 and 2019. The USDA Food Access Research Atlas was used to extrapolate census tract data from neighborhoods that have been previously identified as low-access areas. Demographics were obtained by chart abstraction. Chi-squared tests were used for analysis. RESULTS: Of the 3,684 patients, 1,377 (37.4%) of the population lived in low-access food environments. There is a higher rate of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission in low-access food environments compared to high access (8.6% versus 7.5%; P <.001). Contrarily, there is a lower rate of gestational diabetes mellitus (11.3% versus 13.6%; P =.0381) and preterm delivery (13.2% versus 16.7%; P =.0043) in women living in low-access food environments. There was no significant difference between hypertensive disorders ( P =.0874) and fetal growth restriction ( P =.8465). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that low-access food environment is associated with statistically significant higher rates of NICU admission. Unlike other risk factors, food environment is a modifiable risk factor, and as women's health providers, it is important to address all social drivers of health, including food insecurity.

Volume

143

Issue

5S

First Page

37S

Last Page

38S