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Published on: August 7, 2017
Maternal dietary indexes are not linked to early childhood wheezing or atopic eczema
Elina Sivula1, Heidi Puharinen1, Sari Hantunen2
1School of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Insights
Maternal diet during pregnancy, assessed by the Alternative Healthy Eating Index for Pregnancy (AHEI-P) and Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), showed no association with wheezing or atopic eczema in children during their first year of life.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Nutritional Epidemiology
- Perinatal Health
Background:
- Maternal diet during pregnancy is increasingly studied for its impact on child health.
- The protective effects of specific pregnancy dietary patterns against childhood wheezing and atopic diseases are not well-established.
- This study examines the relationship between two key dietary indices and infant respiratory and skin conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between The Alternative Healthy Eating Index for Pregnancy (AHEI-P) and the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) during pregnancy.
- To determine the risk of wheezing and atopic eczema in children during the first year of life based on maternal diet.
- To clarify whether specific maternal dietary patterns offer protection against infant wheezing and atopic diseases.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 1330 mother-child pairs from the Kuopio Birth Cohort (KuBiCo) was analyzed.
- Dietary data from the last trimester of pregnancy were collected.
- Maternal AHEI-P and DII scores were compared with physician-diagnosed atopic eczema and reported wheezing in infants up to one year of age.
Main Results:
- No statistically significant association was found between AHEI-P and infant wheezing (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.01).
- No significant association was observed between AHEI-P and infant atopic eczema (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.02).
- Neither the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) nor AHEI-P showed a link with wheezing or atopic eczema in children when analyzed continuously or by tertiles.
Conclusions:
- This cohort study found no association between maternal Alternative Healthy Eating Index for Pregnancy (AHEI-P) scores and infant wheezing or atopic eczema.
- Maternal Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) during pregnancy was not associated with the risk of wheezing or atopic eczema in offspring.
- The findings suggest that these specific measures of maternal diet during late pregnancy do not predict wheezing or atopic eczema in the first year of life.
Background:
Several recent studies have investigated the association between maternal diet during pregnancy and wheezing or asthma in children. However, whether a specific dietary pattern during pregnancy protects children from wheezing or atopic diseases remains unclear. This study investigated the association between The Alternative Healthy Eating Index for Pregnancy (AHEI-P), the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), and the risk for wheezing and atopic eczema in children during the first year of life.
Methods:
This study included 1330 mother-child pairs who attended the Kuopio Birth Cohort (KuBiCo) study and had dietary information during the last trimester and information on children's health in the first year of life. AHEI-P and DII indicate a healthy diet and dietary inflammation potential during pregnancy. The AHEI-P and DII were compared with reported wheezing and doctor-diagnosed atopic eczema in children during the first year of life.
Results:
Neither AHEI-P nor DII is associated with wheezing or atopic eczema in children when analyzed by continuous variables and by tertiles. The odds ratio (95% CI) for AHEI-P and wheezing was 0.99 (0.98-1.01), for AHEI-P and atopic eczema1.01 (0.99-1.02), for DII and wheezing 1.02 (0.95-1.09), and for DII and atopic eczema 0.97 (0.91-1.04).
Conclusion:
In this cohort study, AHEI-P and DII during pregnancy were not associated with wheezing or atopic eczema in the offspring during the first year of life.
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