Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Sep 29;13(10):3450.
doi: 10.3390/nu13103450.

Ramadan Fasting during Pregnancy and Health Outcomes in Offspring: A Systematic Review

Violet N L Oosterwijk  1 , Joyce M Molenaar  2   3 , Lily A van Bilsen  1 , Jessica C Kiefte-de Jong  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Ramadan Fasting during Pregnancy and Health Outcomes in Offspring: A Systematic Review

Violet N L Oosterwijk et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, during which fasting is obligatory for all healthy individuals. Although pregnant women are exempt from this Islamic law, the majority nevertheless choose to fast. This review aims to identify the effects of Ramadan fasting on the offspring of Muslim mothers, particularly on fetal growth, birth indices, cognitive effects and long-term effects. A systematic literature search was conducted until March 2020 in Web of Science, Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase and Google Scholar. Studies were evaluated based on a pre-defined quality score ranging from 0 (low quality) to 10 (high quality), and 43 articles were included. The study quality ranged from 2 to 9 with a mean quality score of 5.4. Only 3 studies had a high quality score (>7), of which one found a lower birth weight among fasting women. Few medium quality studies found a significant negative effect on fetal growth or birth indices. The quality of articles that investigated cognitive and long-term effects was poor. The association between Ramadan fasting and health outcomes of offspring is not supported by strong evidence. To further elucidate the effects of Ramadan fasting, larger prospective and retrospective studies with novel designs are needed.

Keywords: Islam; fasting; fetal development; humans; infant; newborn; pregnancy; pregnancy outcome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Selection process of studies for this review.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Results on Ramadan fasting during pregnancy and fetal growth indices.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results on Ramadan fasting during pregnancy and birth indices.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Results on Ramadan fasting during pregnancy and cognitive effects.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Results on Ramadan fasting during pregnancy and long-term effects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adawi M., Watad A., Brown S., Aazza K., Aazza H., Zouhir M., Sharif K., Ghanayem K., Farah R., Mahagna H., et al. Ramadan Fasting Exerts Immunomodulatory Effects: Insights from a Systematic Review. Front. Immunol. 2017;8:1144. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01144. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mirsane S.A., Shafagh S. A Narrative Review on Fasting of Pregnant Women in the Holy Month of Ramadan. J. Fasting Health. 2016;4:53–56.
    1. Kridli S.A.-O. Health Beliefs and Practices of Muslim Women During Ramadan. MCN Am. J. Matern. Nurs. 2011;36:216–221. doi: 10.1097/NMC.0b013e3182177177. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Almond D., Mazumder B. Health Capital and the Prenatal Environment: The Effect of Ramadan Observance During Pregnancy. Am. Econ. J. Appl. Econ. 2011;3:56–85. doi: 10.1257/app.3.4.56. - DOI
    1. Mirghani H.M., Weerasinghe S., Al-Awar S., Abdulla L., Ezimokhai M. The Effect of Intermittent Maternal Fasting on Computerized Fetal Heart Tracing. J. Perinatol. 2004;25:90–92. doi: 10.1038/sj.jp.7211221. - DOI - PubMed