Mediterranean dietary pattern in pregnant women and offspring risk of overweight and abdominal obesity in early childhood: the INMA birth cohort study

Identifier:  imarina:5129841

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina5129841

Authors:  Fernandez-Barres, S; Romaguera, D; Valvi, D; Martinez, D; Vioque, J; Navarrete-Munoz, E M; Amiano, P; Gonzalez-Palacios, S; Guxens, M; Pereda, E; Riano, I; Tardon, A; Iniguez, C; Arija, V; Sunyer, J; Vrijheid, M

Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Animal models have suggested that maternal diet quality may reduce offspring obesity risk regardless of maternal body weight; however, evidence from human studies is scarce. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate associations between adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) during pregnancy and childhood overweight and abdominal obesity risk at 4 years of age. METHODS: We analysed 1827 mother-child pairs from the Spanish 'Infancia y Medio Ambiente' cohort study, recruited between 2003 and 2008. Diet was assessed during pregnancy using a food frequency questionnaire and MD adherence by the relative Mediterranean diet score (rMED). Overweight (including obesity) was defined as an age-specific and sex-specific body mass index ≥85th percentile (World Health Organization referent), and abdominal obesity as a waist circumference (WC) >90th percentile. Multivariate adjusted linear and logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between pregnancy rMED and offspring overweight and abdominal obesity. RESULT: There was no association between rMED and body mass index z-score, whereas there was a significant association between higher adherence to MD and lower WC (β of high vs. low rMED: -0.62 cm; 95% confidence interval: -1.10, -0.14 cm, P for trend = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Pregnancy adherence to the MD was not associated with childhood overweight risk, but it was associated with lower WC, a marker of abdominal obesity.