Dietary Habits and Supplement Use in Relation to National Pregnancy Recommendations: Data from the EuroPrevall Birth Cohort

Abstract

Assessing maternal dietary habits across Europe during pregnancy in relation to their national pregnancy recommendations. A collaborative, multi-centre, birth cohort study in nine European countries was conducted as part of European Union funded EuroPrevall project. Standardised baseline questionnaire data included details of food intake, nutritional supplement use, exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy and socio-demographic data. Pregnancy recommendations were collected from all nine countries from the appropriate national organisations. The most commonly taken supplement in pregnancy was folic acid (55.6 % Lithuania-97.8 % Spain) and was favoured by older, well-educated mothers. Vitamin D supplementation across the cohort was very poor (0.3 % Spain-5.1 % Lithuania). There were significant differences in foods consumed in different countries during pregnancy e.g. only 2.7 % Dutch mothers avoided eating peanut, while 44.4 % of British mothers avoided it. Some countries have minimal pregnancy recommendations i.e. Lithuania, Poland and Spain while others have similar, very specific recommendations i.e. UK, the Netherlands, Iceland, Greece. Allergy specific recommendations were associated with food avoidance during pregnancy [relative rate (RR) 1.18 95 % CI 0.02-1.37]. Nutritional supplement recommendations were also associated with avoidance (RR 1.08, 1.00-1.16). Maternal dietary habits and the use of dietary supplements during pregnancy vary significantly across Europe and in some instances may be influenced by national recommendations.

A new framework for the documentation and interpretation of oral food challenges in population-based and clinical research

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Incidence and natural history of challenge‐proven cow's milk allergy in European children – EuroPrevall birth cohort

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Maternal Diet and Nutrient Requirements in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding. An Italian Consensus Document

“…These observations are partly confirmed by the Dutch Generation R study, showing that the degree of adherence to the Mediterranean diet is positively associated with maternal serum levels of folic acid and vitamin B12 and that, on the other hand, a poor diet correlates with increased risk of hypertension in the gestational period [99]. Some observations also support the efficacy of supplementation with multivitamins and multiminerals [100,101]. …”