Proven: it is possible to avoid low birth weight

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30% of pregnant women with a high risk of having a neonate with low weight have in their hands to avoid it, following a Mediterranean diet and controlling stress, according to a study published today in JAMA and coordinated by researchers from BCNatal, Hospital Clínic - IDIBAPS and the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona, ​​with the support of the "la Caixa" Foundation.

.

This study, unique in the international medical literature,

in the prevention of low birth weight (caused by a delay in fetal growth due to lack of oxygen and nutrients) by empowering (or holding responsible) a third of pregnant women to try to avoid it with changes in your lifestyle;

for the rest, with genetic factors and others not yet described / known, it will continue to be very difficult.

The study, which has shown a

, has been coordinated by Eduard Gratacós, director of BCNatal of the Fetal and Perinatal Medicine group of Idibaps and Ciberer, and by Francesca Crovetto (Hospital Sant Joan de Déu) and Fàtima Crispi (Hospital Clínic), of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Service of BCNatal and researchers from those same groups. The teams of Ramon Estruch, from the Clinic's Internal Medicine Service, head of the Cardiovascular Risk, Nutrition and Aging group at Idibaps and researcher at Ciberon have collaborated; Eduard Vieta, head of the Clinic's Psychiatry and Psychology Service, of the Bipolar and Depressive Disorders group at Idibaps and scientific director of Cibersam, and professionals from the esMindfulness Institute, directed by Andrés Martín-Asuero. The project has also had the support of Cerebra, Ciberer and Agaur.Multidisciplinary work is necessary because

.

As reported by the researchers of this study, in a meeting with the press held in Barcelona,

.

Low birth weight reflects growth retardation in fetal life and is recognized by the WHO as one of the most important causes of perinatal mortality in the world.

It is also associated with poorer neurodevelopment in childhood and with more metabolic and cardiovascular health problems in adulthood.

Gratacós explained that, after studying for years the possible causes and consequences of low birth weight, "

."

Hence the idea of ​​conducting a specific clinical study, something unusual when it comes to changes or improvements in lifestyle, and therefore with difficulties in obtaining funding.

In this case, the support of the "la Caixa" Foundation was obtained, which is already financing the artificial placenta project for premature infants led by Gratacós.

In the study, called IMPACT Barcelona, ​​more than 1,200 pregnant women with a high risk of having a small baby (less than 10% of normal weight) have participated for three years.

The pregnant women in the sample were randomly divided into three groups: one group (407 women) in which the pregnant women had visits with a nutritionist to follow a Mediterranean diet;

a group (407) in which a mindfulness program was followed to reduce stress, and the control group (407 women), with the usual follow-up.

They were then followed up to see how the baby was developing and if there were complications in the pregnancy and delivery.

The diet intervention was based on the methods used in the Predimed study (Prevention with Mediterranean Diet), which showed the

and which has been endorsed by the American Heart Association ( American Heart Association).

The pregnant women in this group attended

to change the diet pattern and adapt it to the Mediterranean diet, incorporating more fruits and vegetables, white meat, blue fish, dairy products and whole grains. In addition, they were provided free of charge

, that is, extra virgin olive oil and walnuts. "To evaluate adherence to this intervention in an objective way, we measure

related to the intake of walnuts and olive oil", Crovetto pointed out.

The intervention to reduce stress was based on the

(Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) program, developed by the University of Massachusetts and

. Groups of 20-25 women were made who followed the program adapted to pregnancy for 8 weeks. "To find out if there was a reduction in stress, questionnaires were completed at the beginning and at the end of the program, and the

were measured

," Crovetto pointed out.

In this way, the study has shown, for the first time, that, when a structured and guided Mediterranean diet is used or mindfulness is done during pregnancy,

.

"The results were clear: the pregnant women in the control group had 21.9% of newborns with low weight and the percentage was significantly reduced in the Mediterranean diet (14%) and mindfulness (15.6%) groups "Crispi stressed.

.

In addition, benefits are recorded even in pregnant women who do not follow the recommendations 100%.

"We are now designing a

to any pregnant woman without the need for a risk of having a low-weight baby," he adds.

Gratacós has announced that they will

.

"You have to do it in a forceful way," he underlines, after explaining that three different international teams reviewed this study published in

and had no doubts about the results obtained, although they were surprising at first.

"These are measures of empowerment of women and of society in general; they are tools to be able to say

," the expert concluded.

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