Maternal fruit and vegetable or vitamin C consumption during pregnancy is associated with fetal growth and infant growth up to 6 months: results from the Korean Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundBased on data obtained from pregnant women who participated in the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study in South Korea, we aimed to determine whether maternal intake of fruits and vegetables or vitamin C is associated with fetal and infant growth.MethodsA total of 1138 Korean pregnant women at 12–28 weeks gestation with their infants were recruited as study participants for the MOCEH. Intake of fruits and vegetables or vitamin C during pregnancy was assessed by a 1-day 24-h recall method. Fetal biometry was determined by ultrasonography at late pregnancy. Infant weight and length were measured at birth and 6 months.ResultsA multiple regression analysis after adjusting for covariates showed that maternal intake of fruits and vegetables was positively associated with the biparietal diameter of the fetus and infant’s weight from birth to 6 months. Also, maternal vitamin C intake was positively associated with the abdominal circumference of the fetus and infant birth length. In addition, there was a significant inverse relationship between consumption of fruits and vegetables (below the median compared to above the median of ≥519 g/d) and the risk of low growth (<25th percentile) of biparietal diameter (odds ratio (OR): 2.220; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.153–4.274) and birth weight (OR: 1.434; 95% CI: 1.001–2.056). A significant inverse relationship also existed between vitamin C consumption (below vs above the estimated average requirement (EAR) of ≥85 mg/d) and the risk of low growth (<25th percentile) of birth weight (OR: 1.470; 95% CI: 1.011–2.139), weight from birth to 6 months (OR: 1.520; 95% CI: 1.066–2.165), and length at birth (OR: 1.579; 95% CI: 1.104–2.258).ConclusionsAn increased intake of fruits and vegetables or vitamin C at mid-pregnancy is associated with increased fetal growth and infant growth up to 6 months of age.

Food and nutrient intake and adherence to dietary recommendations during pregnancy: a Nordic mother–child population-based cohort

“…The high vegetable and fiber intake in our cohort, in line with a previous study showing that Norwegian women tend to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption from pre-pregnancy to early pregnancy (30), will likely have positive health effects for both mother and child. A higher intake of fruits and vegetables is also associated with increased infant growth up to 6 months of age (31). Our study was not designed to assess pre-pregnancy dietary habits, but a heightened motivation in pregnancy might have played a role in increasing vegetable consumption in our study population, resulting in the reported high intakes of vegetables.…”

Fruit and vegetable consumption before and during pregnancy and birth weight of new-borns in Japan: the Tohoku medical megabank project birth and three-generation cohort study

“…Confounders considered to affect exposures and outcomes were selected from previous reports [9,12,[18][19][20][21][22]. Information regarding maternal age (years) and parity (never, one, or more) were gathered from medical records, and height (cm) and pre-pregnancy weight (kg) were self-reported values.…”

“…The results of this cohort study in the US were limited because of the small number of participants included in the analysis ( n = 115), and using simple questions that asked whether fruits/vegetables were consumed at least once a day or not. Among the remaining nine studies, six suggested that fruit and/or vegetable consumption during pregnancy is positively associated with birth weight of new-borns [ 12 , 18 – 22 ]. In contrast, three studies reported that fruit and vegetable consumption during pregnancy is not significantly associated with birth weight [ 23 – 25 ].…”

Access to Information Technologies and Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables in South Africa: Evidence from Nationally Representative Data

“…For example, [68] mentioned that the consumption of F+V is promoted as part of a healthful diet, given that maternal nutrition is important for foetal growth. The evidence supports the maternal consumption of a variety of F+V as part of a balanced diet throughout pregnancy [68,69]. Nutrition education also enhances F+V consumption, as alluded by [70].…”