Maternal Dietary Vitamin D Intake during Pregnancy Is Associated with Allergic Disease Symptoms in Children at 3 Years Old: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Vitamin D plays an important role in the immune system, and postnatal vitamin D insufficiency is one of the risk factors for the development of allergic disease. However, the effects of women’s vitamin D intake during pregnancy on the prevalence of allergic disease in their children remain controversial. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> From the Japan Environment and Children’s Study, an ongoing nationwide birth cohort study, we obtained information on maternal dietary vitamin D intake determined using a food frequency questionnaire and parent-reported allergic disease symptoms based on the ISAAC questionnaire in children at 3 years of age. <b><i>Results:</i></b> From the full dataset of 103,060 pregnancies, we analyzed complete data for 73,309 mother-child pairs. The prevalence of current wheeze, current rhinitis, current rhino-conjunctivitis, current eczema, ever asthma, ever pollinosis, and ever atopic dermatitis in the children was 17.2%, 29.7%, 3.8%, 15.2%, 9.6%, 3.7%, and 11.0%, respectively. The ORs for current rhinitis were significantly lower in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th quintiles than in the 1st quintile after adjustment for various covariates and showed a linear association. The ORs for ever pollinosis were significantly lower in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quintiles than in the 1st quintile, showing a U-shaped curve. There was no clear association between mothers’ dietary vitamin D intake and symptoms of asthma or atopic dermatitis in their 3-year-old children. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Maternal dietary vitamin D intake during pregnancy is associated with the ORs for nasal allergies in children at the age of 3 years. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the appropriate intake dose of vitamin D for pregnant women to prevent the development of nasal allergies in their children.

Pre-asthma: a useful concept for prevention and disease-modification? A EUFOREA paper. Part 1—allergic asthma

“…A recent large Japanese study of almost 74,000 mother—infant pairs showed no association between maternal vitamin D levels and asthma or atopic dermatitis at age 3. However there was an inverse relationship between maternal dietary vitamin D intake and the risk of developing allergic rhinitis symptoms at the age of 3 years ( 111 ). Since rhinitis predisposes to asthma further follow up is necessary.…”