An Investigation of the Relationship Between Dietary Patterns in Early Pregnancy and Maternal/Infant Health Outcomes in a Chinese Cohort

Abstract

BackgroundStudies assessing links between maternal diet and pregnancy outcomes have focused predominantly on individual nutrients or foods. However, nutrients are typically consumed in combinations of foods or beverages (i.e., dietary patterns). Taking into account the diet as a whole appreciates that nutrient absorption and metabolism are influenced by other nutrients and the food matrix.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dietary pattern consumption in early pregnancy and pregnancy/infant outcomes, including gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational weight gain, preeclampsia, placental weight, gestational age at delivery, small-for-gestational-age, large-for-gestational-age, macrosomia, measures of infant body composition, and scores on two main indices of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development [Mental Development Index (MDI) and the Psychomotor Development Index (PDI)] at 12 months.DesignOur study included 1,437 participants from a mother-infant cohort in Chongqing, China. Maternal diet was assessed using a 96-item food frequency questionnaire at 11–14 weeks gestation. Dietary patterns were constructed using principal component analysis. Multivariate regressions were performed to assess associations between maternal dietary pattern scores and pregnancy and infant outcomes, adjusting for confounders.ResultsTwo dietary patterns were derived: a pattern high in pasta, sweetened beverages, and oils and condiments (PSO-based dietary pattern) and a pattern high in fish, poultry, and vegetables (FPV-based dietary pattern). Higher scores on the PSO-based dietary pattern were associated with lower infant standardized scores on the PDI of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, β (95% confidence interval) = −1.276 (−2.392, −0.160); lower placental weight, β (95% CI) = −6.413 (−12.352g, −0.473); and higher infant's tricep skinfold thickness at 6 weeks of age. β (95% CI) = 0.279 (0.033, 0.526). Higher scores on the FPV-based dietary pattern were associated with higher gestational weight gain between visit 1 (11–14 week's gestation) and 3 (32–34 week's gestation). β (95% CI) = 25.612 (13.255, 37.969). No significant associations were observed between dietary pattern scores and the remaining pregnancy/infant outcomes investigated or MDI scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. This was the first study to investigate the association between dietary patterns in early pregnancy and infant neurocognition in a Chinese cohort.

Associations between maternal dietary scores during early pregnancy with placental outcomes

“…PW has been negatively correlated with a maternal fast food-like dietary pattern ( 49 ) while another study found low PW in mothers with low adherence to a Mediterranean-like dietary pattern ( 50 ). Here, higher diet quality (based on the HEI-2015 score) was associated with lower PW.…”

Investigating the impact of oral health on pregnancy and offspring outcomes: protocol for the Lifetime Impact of ORal heAlth (LIORA) cohort study

“…Data collection will include information from the women on environmental, health and lifestyle factors at study visits 1, 2, 3 and 5–10 (tables 1 and 2). Information to be collected from the women over the three prenatal visits will include past and present medical and health history, pregnancy and sociodemographic factors (age, education, occupation, family), along with lifestyle factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption 21 25. Clinical assessments will be conducted at each visit, with a range of measurements (weight, height, waist circumference and blood pressure) recorded.…”

Impact of Maternal Nutrition on Child Neurodevelopment: Insights from Recent Studies

“…Temporal Distribution of Research: The analysis of the studies on the impact of nutrition during pregnancy on the neurodevelopment of offspring found that they were conducted at different stages of pregnancy. Specifically, some studies focused on the first and second trimesters (12)(13)(14)(15)(16), somespanned the second and third trimesters (11,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) and other encompassed the first and third trimesters.…”