Maternal Diet Quality during Pregnancy and Child Cognition in United States Cohorts

Nutrition plays a critical role in cognitive health throughout life, especially during the early years of development.

This study aimed to evaluate the role of maternal diet during pregnancy and offspring cognitive functioning during early and mid-childhood.

The study population consisted of 178 mother-child dyads in early childhood (ages 3-5 y) and 174 in mid-childhood (ages 6-11 y) from the Environmental Influences On Child Health Outcomes Cohort. Maternal diet during pregnancy was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Diet quality was evaluated using the healthy eating index, alternative healthy eating index (AHEI-P), Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) intervention for neurodegenerative delay (MIND-P), and Mediterranean diet (MDS-P) for pregnant women. Offspring cognition was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery with age-standardized composite and subscale scores. Multivariable linear mixed models were performed to estimate the associations between maternal diet quality and offspring cognition.

Higher AHEI-P [each 10-point increment: β = 2.20; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.30, 4.00] and MIND-P (each 1-point increment: β = 1.31; 95% CI: 0.04, 2.58) scores were associated with better total cognitive composite scores in mid-childhood. Higher AHEI-P (each 10-point increment: β = 1.60; 95% CI: 0.04, 3.20), MDS-P (each 10-point increment: β = 1.90; 95% CI: 0.50, 3.30), and MIND-P (each 1-point increment: β = 1.29; 95% CI: 0.22, 2.36) were associated with better crystallized scores in mid-childhood. None of the maternal diet scores were associated with fluid scores in mid-childhood or with cognitive scores in early childhood.

Higher maternal diet quality during pregnancy was associated with better composite and crystallized cognitive function in offspring in mid-childhood. However, no associations were observed in early childhood.