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
. 2025 Jan 23;25(1):59.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-07158-2.

Ramadan during pregnancy and the role of dietary intake for neonatal health in Kaduna, Northwestern Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Musa Abubakar Kana  1   2 , Bilkisu Usman  1 , Amina Mohammed-Durosinlorun  3 , Jennifer Ahmed  2 , Hassana Habiba Abubakar  2 , Yakub Abdulmalik  2 , Fabienne Pradella  4   5   6
Affiliations

Ramadan during pregnancy and the role of dietary intake for neonatal health in Kaduna, Northwestern Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Musa Abubakar Kana et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Ramadan during pregnancy is associated with adverse offspring health outcomes. Recent evidence from Europe indicates that maternal diet during non-fasting hours might alleviate these effects. This study describes fasting, diet, and sleep habits among pregnant Muslims in Kaduna, Nigeria, and assesses impacts on neonatal health in this setting.

Methods: Between July 2023 and February 2024, we conducted 1814 interviews with women whose pregnancy overlapped with Ramadan 2023 in Kaduna, northwestern Nigeria (cross-sectional study). We used a structured questionnaire to collect data on fasting, diet and sleep during Ramadan, as well as maternal socio-demographic characteristics. In the analyses of birth outcomes, 1370 mother-newborn pairs were included. We performed multivariate regression analyses to evaluate associations between fasting and birth weight and gestational duration, as well as the interaction of fasting with maternal dietary intake and sleep patterns.

Results: More than 80% of the study participants fasted during pregnancy. Women who fasted had infants with lower birth weights than non-fasting participants (-90.38 g, 95% CI: -173.64 g to -6.12 g). No independent associations were detected between reduced sleep and food intake, and birth weight. Fasting was not associated with gestational duration. Negative effects of fasting on birth weight were consistently concentrated among participants who reduced their dietary or fluid intake during Ramadan.

Conclusions: Dietary intake during non-fasting hours might mitigate potential adverse effects of Ramadan fasting on birth weight. With more than 25% of the global population adhering to Islam, this study highlights the need for additional research on Ramadan during pregnancy across different settings.

Keywords: Birth Weight; Gestational age; Intermittent fasting; Nigeria; Pregnancy; Ramadan.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval was obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee of the Ministry of Health and Human Services, Kaduna State, Nigeria (MOH/ADM/744/VOL1/1168). The study conformed to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided informed consent. The participants were assured that the study was anonymous, and their privacy and confidentiality protected by the removal of identifying information during all the stages of data management, analysis, and dissemination. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
STROBE flow diagram of the sample recruitment
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Associations between fasting, sleep and dietary intake during pregnancy with offspring birth weight
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Associations between fasting, sleep and dietary intake during pregnancy with offspring gestational duration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Almond D, Currie J. Killing me softly: the fetal origins Hypothesis. J Econ Perspect. 2011;25(3):153–72. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Almond D, Currie J, Duque V. Childhood circumstances and adult outcomes: Act II. J Econ Lit. 2018;56(4):1360–446.
    1. Lumey LH, Stein AD, Susser E. Prenatal famine and adult health. Ann Rev Pub Health. 2011;32:237–62. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stanner SA, Bulmer K, Andrès C, Lantseva OE, Borodina V, Poteen VV, et al. Does malnutrition in utero determine diabetes and coronary heart disease in adulthood? Results from the Leningrad siege study, a cross sectional study. BMJ. 1997;315(7119):1342–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mazumder B, Seeskin Z. Breakfast skipping, Extreme commutes, and the sex composition at Birth. Biodemography Soc Biol. 2015;61(2):187–208. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources