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A new study has proved that intake of vegetables during pregnancy can lower the risk associated with the development of Type 1 Diabetes in children.
"This is the first study to show a link between vegetable intake during pregnancy and the risk of the child subsequently developing type-1 diabetes," says researcher and clinical nutritionist Hilde Brekke from Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden.
The study conducted blood samples of 6,000 five-year-olds. Type 1 Diabetes is characterized by the failure of pancreatic cells to produce insulin.
Children at risk of developing type-1 diabetes have antibodies in their blood which attack these insulin-producing cells. The study proved that 3 of the children had higher antibodies or complete type-1 diabetes at the age of five.
The risk was double in those children whose mothers did not or rarely ate vegetables during pregnancy.
The risk was lowest among children whose mothers stated that they ate vegetables every day. Vegetables, in the study, was used as a synonym for all the vegetables except root vegetables.
The study was undertaken in collaboration with Linkping University, which is conducting a population study called ABIS (All Babies in Southeast Sweden).
The results were published in Paediatric Diabetes.
