Dietary management of gestational diabetes mellitus

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common metabolic disorder during pregnancy. GDM can cause significant problems including some perinatal complications, neonatal complications, and metabolic disorders to offspring in later life. The primary management mode for women with GDM is nutritional therapy. Some women with GDM need diet therapy alone, and some women require both diet therapy and insulin. Thus far, there is no universal dietary management of GDM, because there have been no universal diagnostic criteria and genomic backgrounds differ according to ethnicity. However, some consensus guidelines exist. This review details these consensus guidelines for the optimal nutritional management for GDM.