Trajectories of dietary patterns from pregnancy to 12 years post-pregnancy and associated maternal characteristics: evidence from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

Abstract

Purpose Dietary patterns (DPs) during pregnancy have been well researched. However, little is known about maternal diet after pregnancy. The aim of the study was to explore maternal DPs longitudinally, examine trajectories over 12 years after pregnancy and identify associated factors. Methods Of 14,541 pregnant women enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) complete dietary information was available for 5336 women. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to derive DPs. DP scores at each time point were used to create DP trajectories using group-based trajectory modelling (GBTM). Multinomial logistic regression assessed the association with maternal factors. Results A total of six distinct DPs were identified over time with different numbers of DPs at each time point. The “healthy” and “processed” DPs persisted over the 12-year post-pregnancy. Three trajectories of “healthy” and “processed” DPs were identified from GBTM. Half the women were on the moderately healthy DP trajectory with 37% on the lower trajectory and 9% on the higher healthy DP trajectory. 59% of women were on the lower processed DP trajectory with 38% on the moderate trajectory and 3.3% on the higher processed DP trajectory. Low educational attainment, low social class and smoking in pregnancy were independently associated with being on a less favourable DP trajectory over the 12 years. Conclusion Health professionals should provide support on smoking cessation along with healthy eating advice during ante-natal counselling. Continued support on eating healthily after pregnancy would be beneficial for mothers and families.

Association between Dietary Patterns during Pregnancy and Children’s Neurodevelopment: A Birth Cohort Study

“…The maximum likelihood method was used for parameter estimation and model fitting. Firstly, we explored two to five categories of potential trajectory models, considering existing relevant studies on dietary pattern score trajectories during pregnancy [27,28]. Based on the recommendations [26,29], the detailed selection criteria for the best-fitting model for trajectories were as follows:…”

“…We used a fully validated FFQ to repeatedly collect data in three trimesters of pregnancy, allowing us to capture changes in dietary intake throughout pregnancy. In addition, many studies have begun to fit trajectories of dietary patterns during pregnancy based on data from repeated measures [27,28]. In contrast, almost no studies explore the effects of the trajectories of mothers' dietary patterns during pregnancy on offspring neurodevelopment, which is the novelty of this paper.…”