Healthy Eating in Women at Risk of Gestational Diabetes

Individuals will participate in three on-site research visits during which a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test will be performed. At each of these trimesters and 3 months after the delivery, participants will also complete three validated web-based 24-h recalls from which diet quality will be assessed. Subjects will be randomized to two arms after the first oral glucose tolerance test at the first visit. For all participants, on-site follow-ups by the research team will occur at each trimester and 1 virtual follow-up will be done 3 months after delivery for both groups. The total duration of participation for all is approximately 9 months.

Inclusion criteria

• ≤ 14 gestational weeks;
• Singleton pregnancy;
• At risk of GDM According to Diabetes Canada (being 35 years of age or older or from a high-risk group (African, Arab, Asian, Hispanic, Indigenous, or South Asian) or having a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2, prediabetes, GDM in a previous pregnancy, given birth to a baby that weighed more than 4 kg, a parent, brother or sister with type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome or acanthosis nigricans (darkened patches of skin).

Exclusion criteria

• Having a diabetes diagnosis in the 1st trimester;
• Pre-existing diabetes mellitus;
• Diseases requiring active nutritional treatment or influencing glucose metabolism (including previous bariatric surgery);
• Taking part in a nutritional intervention program;
• Corticosteroid use;
• Previous or current diagnosis of an eating disorder;
• Inability to give informed consent;
• Inability to communicate in French.