Higher maternal dietary protein intake in late pregnancy is associated with a lower infant ponderal index at birth

Abstract

Aim: A high ponderal index at birth has been associated with later obesity and it has been suggested that intervention to prevent obesity and its sequela should consider the antenatal period. In this context, we investigated the association between maternal nutrition and birth anthropometry. Design: We analyzed data on 1040 mother-infant pairs collected during the Tasmanian Infant Health Survey (TIHS), Tasmania, 1988Tasmania, -1989. Maternal dietary intake during pregnancy was measured by food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) applied soon after birth. Outcomes of interest were birth weight, birth length, head circumference, ponderal index, head circumference -toponderal index ratio, placenta-to-birth weight ratio and head circumference-to-birth length index. Results: In multiple regression model, an increase of 10 g of absolute protein intake/day was associated with a reduction in birth weight of 17.8 g (95% CI: À32.7, À3.0; P ¼ 0.02). Protein intake was also associated negatively with ponderal index (b ¼ À0.01; 95% CI: À0.02, À0.00; P ¼ 0.01). A 1 % increase in carbohydrate intake resulted in a 1% decline in placental weight relative to birth weight. Higher protein intake in the third trimester was associated with a reduced ponderal index among large birth weight infants but not low birth weight infants. Conclusions: This raises the possibility that any effect of high protein in altering infant anthropometry at birth may involve changes in body composition and future work to examine how a high-protein diet influences body composition at birth is warranted.

The association of maternal diet and dietary supplement intake in pregnant New Zealand women with infant birthweight

“…A positive association with birthweight was found for %TE from carbohydrate in early pregnancy (Cohen et al, 2001), monounsaturated fat intake in late pregnancy (Petridou et al, 1998), protein intake in early pregnancy (Doyle et al, 1990;Cuco et al, 2006), %TE from protein in early pregnancy (Moore et al, 2004) and protein intake in late pregnancy (Haste et al, 1991;Cuco et al, 2006). Other studies have found birthweight declines with high protein intakes (Andreasyan et al, 2007). These varying results are not inconsistent considering the close correlation of these macronutrients and the quadratic relationship between carbohydrate, protein and fat intakes and birthweight found in our study.…”

“…Petridou et al (1998) found higher meat and fish intakes were suggestively associated, and MUFA intake significantly associated with increased birthweight. Mitchell et al (2004) found that intake of iron supplements in late pregnancy was associated with increased birthweight whereas Andreasyan et al (2007) found increasing protein intake was negatively associated with birthweight.…”

δ15N and δ13C in hair from newborn infants and their mothers: a cohort study

“…A recent article showed that a 30% reduction in total energy intake resulted in structural abnormalities of the brain without any change in brain mass (30). On the other hand, a 10-g/d increase in protein intake led to an 18-g reduction in birth weight without any observed change in head circumference (31). While clearly observational studies such as ours cannot test the effect of protein intake on brain development, they do support a need for further investigations, initially through animal studies.…”

Maternal Weight and Body Composition during Pregnancy Are Associated with Placental and Birth Weight in Rural Bangladesh,

“…Nutritional factors associated with poor placental growth include increased maternal carbohydrate intake in early and late pregnancy and decreased maternal protein intake in late pregnancy (16,17).…”