The need to eat healthy food during pregnancy for the health of unborn child is a well established fact. Recent study has shown that intake of vegetables during pregnancy can reduce the risk of Type 1 Diabetes in the child. During type 1 diabetes, certain cells in the pancreas fail to produce insulin hence leading to insulin deficiency.  

The recent study was based on the data collected from 6,000 five-year-olds. Children who are at higher risk of developing type-1 diabetes generally have high level of antibodies in blood, which attack insulin-producing cells.

Data analysis indicated that three percent children had high levels of antibodies or completely developed type 1 diabetes at the age of five.

The risk of developing type-1 diabetes was double in children whose mother’s consumption of green vegetables was very low. Children whose mother had green vegetables daily during pregnancy had lowest risk of type-1 diabetes.

Researcher and clinical nutritionist Hilde Brekke from Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden said that 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.