Fat-modified diets during pregnancy and lactation and serum lipids after birth

This study investigated the influence of modifying the maternal dietary fat on the serum lipids of infants at birth and at one year of age.

This single-blind randomized clinical trial was done on 180 4-month-pregnant women. All subjects proved to have a fat-unmodified diet through a 4-day food record dietary questionnaire. They were divided randomly into two groups. The intervention group was kept on a fat-modified diet including saturated fatty acid (SFA) < 10%, monounsaturated fatty acids: (MUFA) 10-5%, polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) upto 10% and cholesterol < 300 mg/day with dietary advice for the pregnancy period. The control group was given only the latter advice. All subjects were followed up monthly. The serum lipids including total cholesterol (T.cho), triglyceride (TG), and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) were analyzed through enzymatic methods. The level of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) was calculated by Friedewald formula. The comparison of mean cord and one-year-old infant serum lipids were done through unpaired T-test in two groups.

The mean level of T.cho in the intervention and control group was (70.3+/-15.9, vs 81.4+/-17.2, P< 0.009), TG (85.3 +/- 16.7 vs 97.5 +/- 18.2, P< 0.007), LDL-C (27.8 +/- 15.2 vs 34.8 +/- 17.1, P< 0.04) and non-HDL-C (44.5+/-7.2 vs 54.5 +/- 8.1, P< 0.02) and in one year old infant the comparison of serum lipids were as follows. T.cho (145.7 +/- 51.4 vs 161.4 +/- 56.2, P< 0.003), TG (90.1 +/- 31.8 vs 98.3 +/- 33.1, P< 0.02), LDL-C (85.6 +/- 20.4 vs 92.3 +/- 19.6, P< 0,05) and non-HDL-C (113.6 +/- 30.2 vs 128.8 +/- 34.8, P< 0.04). However, there was no significant difference in HDL-C of both groups.

There is a significant decrease of T.cho, TG, LDL-C and non-HDL-C levels with no significant increase of HDL-C in the intervention group with the fat-modified diet. Maternal fat-modified diet could be suitable way to prevent cardiovascular disease among infants from the beginning of the life.