The effect of nutritional intake on outcome of pregnancy in smokers and non-smokers

Abstract

~_ _The relationship between nutrient intake and pregnancy outcome (adjusted birth weight and gestational age) was investigated in randomly selected non-smokers (n 97) and in heavy smokers (15 + cigarettes/d) (n 72) booking for ante-natal care at a hospital in South London. Weighed dietary intakes (7 d) were obtained at 28 and 36 weeks gestation. Birth weight was adjusted for gestational age, maternal height, parity and sex of infant.Compared with non-smokers, intakes of micronutrients and fibre were lower in smokers at both 28 and 36 weeks, and smokers reduced their intakes more in late pregnancy. The babies of smokers had a lower adjusted birth weight but there was no difference in length of gestation between smokers and nonsmokers. After controlling for smoking, social class and alcohol consumption, nutrient intakes a t 28 weeks were found to have no effect on adjusted birth weight. However, intakes of protein, zinc, riboflavin and thiamin at 36 weeks, and the change in intakes of these nutrients (plus iron) between 28 and 36 weeks, had independent positive effects on birth weight. Some of the effect of smoking on birth weight appeared to be mediated through differences in nutrient intakes. Smoking explained 14.3 YO of the variance in birth weight in this population and a further 24-7.2 YO was explained by change in nutrient intakes between 28 and 36 weeks. It is recommended that women in pregnancy do not reduce their dietary intakes in late pregnancy.

Seasonal variation of nutrient intake in pregnancy: effects on infant measures and possible influence on diseases related to season of birth

“…The results are shown in Table 5. Haste et al (1991) also corrected birthweight for gestational age: in our case, no nutrients were significantly related to being small/ large for age. Age-corrected head-circumference gave similar significant relationships as when the age-correction was omitted.…”

“…However, even after correcting for smoking, parity and BMI; carbohydrate, B vitamin and calcium intakes were negatively related to birthweight in winter. Studies that have investigated the relationship of nutrient intake during pregnancy with birthweight (Haste et al, 1991;Godfrey et al, 1996;Mathews et al, 1999;Moore et al, 2004) have not examined the effect of birth season. No similarities were found between their findings and ours.…”

“…Some studies on maternal nutrition during pregnancy have found a significant association between birthweight and protein, zinc, thiamin and riboflavin intakes (Haste et al, 1991), carbohydrate intake in early pregnancy and protein intake in late pregnancy (Godfrey et al, 1996), vitamin C intake in early pregnancy (Mathews et al, 1999), and total energy from protein in early pregnancy (Moore et al, 2004). However, the influence of seasonal change in nutrient intake on birth measures has not been investigated.…”

Diet composition of pregnant Finnish women: changes over time and across seasons

“…A further evolving issue is the prevalence of overweight and obesity, which has been linked to health risks for pregnant women and their babies (8) . Maternal intake of energy-yielding nutrients, vitamins and minerals during pregnancy, especially during certain 'sensitive periods', has also been implicated to influence placental weight and the size of the newborn (9)(10)(11) . The combination of these sensitive periods and seasonal variation in food consumption and nutrient intake could potentially influence birth outcomes.…”

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

“…Haste et al (1991) collected weighed diet records from 169 women and found no association between diet and birthweight at 28 weeks, but at 36 weeks found protein, zinc, thiamine and riboflavin intakes and the change in intake between 28 and 36 weeks of these nutrients and iron had a significant positive effect on birthweight explaining between 2.4% and 7.2% of the total variance. Godfrey et al (1996) administered a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to 538 women in early and late pregnancy and found that increasing carbohydrate intake in early pregnancy and increasing meat protein intake in late pregnancy was associated with decreased birthweight.…”