Maternal fatty acid intake and fetal growth: evidence for an association in overweight women. The ‘EDEN mother–child’ cohort (study of pre- and early postnatal determinants of the child's development and health)

Abstract

Recent studies suggest a benefit of seafood and n-3 fatty acid intake on fetal growth and infant development. The objective was to study the association between fatty acid intake and fetal growth in pregnant French women. Pregnant women included in the EDEN mother -child cohort study completed FFQ on their usual diet: (1) in the year before pregnancy and (2) during the last 3 months of pregnancy (n 1439). Conversion into nutrient intakes was performed using data on portion size and a French food composition table. Associations between maternal fatty acid intakes and several neonatal anthropometric measurements were studied using linear regressions adjusted for centre, mother's age, smoking habits, height, parity, gestational age and newborn's sex. Due to significant interaction, analyses were stratified according to maternal pre-pregnancy overweight status. Neither total lipid nor SFA, MUFA or PUFA intake was significantly associated with newborn size. In overweight women only (n 366), a high pre-pregnancy n-3 fatty acid intake (% PUFA) was positively associated with the newborn's birth weight (P¼ 0·01), head, arm and wrist circumferences and sum of skinfolds (P, 0·04). A substitution of 1 % of n-3 fatty acids per d before pregnancy by other PUFA was related to an average decrease in birth weight of 60 g (P¼ 0·01). Relationships with n-3 fatty acid intake at the end of pregnancy were weaker and not significant. We concluded that a high pre-pregnancy n-3 fatty acid:PUFA ratio may sustain fetal growth in overweight women. Follow-up of the children may help determine whether this has beneficial consequences for the child's health and development.

The association between linoleic acid levels in colostrum and child cognition at 2 and 3 y in the EDEN cohort

“…A total of 2002 women were enrolled. Details of the EDEN study protocol have been published elsewhere (33). Informed written consents concerning the parents were obtained at enrolment, and that for the child was obtained from the mother and, if available, the father, after the child birth.…”

Degree of methylation ofZAC1(PLAGL1) is associated with prenatal and post-natal growth in healthy infants of the EDEN mother child cohort

“…To compute energy and nutrient intakes, we multiplied, for each food, the intake frequency by the nutrient composition for a portion as described previously. 41 The first FFQ also included questions about the use of dietary supplements within three months prior to pregnancy and the second FFQ about the use of dietary supplements during gestation. Questions inquired about the duration of use during pregnancy and whether or not the supplements were taken as a mixture.…”

Longitudinal follow-up of the relationship between dietary intake and growth and development in the Lifeways cross-generation cohort study 2001–2013

“…The Lifeways study was one of the first to show that general practitioner-reported wheeze or asthma (52) Czech Republic 7577 1994 x Devereux et al (53) UK 1400 1997 x x Drouillet et al (54) France 1900 2003 x x x x Dubois et al (55) Canada 1450 1998 x x Eggesbo et al (56) Norway 2500 2003 x x x Emanuel et al (57) UK 3076 1958 x Gorden-Larsen et al (58) USA 14 706 1995 x Gracie et al (59) Canada 3388 2008 x x Grandjean et al (60) Faroe Islands 1022 1986 x x x x Guldner et al (61) France 4000 2002 x x Guxens et al (62) Spain 3768 1997 x x x x x Grazuleviciene et al (63) Lithuania 4405 2007 x Hawkes et al (64) Ireland 2185 2008 x Hawkins et al (65) UK 13 113 2000 x Hill et al (66) Wales 420 2009 x x Hryhorczuk et al (67) Ukraine 4510 1992 x x x Hui et al (68) Hong Kong 8327 1997 x x Hunt et al (69) Canada 521 1981 x x Inskip et al (70) UK 3159 1998 x x Jaddoe et al (71) Netherlands 10 000 2002 x Jedrychowski et al (72) Poland 432 2000 x x Kaplowitz et al (73) UK 224 1986 x x Karvonen et al (74) Finland 442 2002 x x x x Katier et al (75) Netherlands 2500 (95) Germany 2000 2011 x x x x Richiardi et al (96) Italy 7500 2005 x x x x Schaefer-Graf et al (97) Germany 324 1995 † x x Sekine et al (98) Japan 8941 1992 x x Skalkidou et al (99) Sweden 580 2009 x x Tsuchiya et al (100) Japan 1260 2007 x x van Eijsden et al (101) The Netherlands 6161 2003 x x x x Vandentorren et al (102) France 20 000 2011 x x x Vecchi Brumatti et al (103) Italy 900 when the child averaged 3 years was inversely associated with maternal fruit and vegetable and fish consumption during pregnancy (1...…”