Maternal nut intake in pregnancy and child neuropsychological development up to 8 years old: a population-based cohort study in Spain

Abstract

There is scientific evidence on the protective effects of nut intake against cognitive decline in the elderly; however, this effect has been less explored in child neurodevelopment and no studies have explored the potential longitudinal association with nut intake during pregnancy. We aimed to analyze the association of maternal nut intake during pregnancy with child neuropsychological outcomes. We included 2208 mother-child pairs from a population-based birth cohort in four regions of Spain. The follow up settings were during pregnancy (first and third trimesters), birth, 1.5, 5 and 8 years. Neuropsychological examinations were based on Bayley Scales of Infant Development (1.5 years), McCarthy scales of Children's Abilities (5y), Attention Network Test (ANT, 8y) and N-Back test (8y). Nut intake in pregnancy was reported through a validated food frequency questionnaire during the first and the third trimester. Multivariable regressions analyzed associations after controlling for priori selected confounders notably maternal education, social class, body mass index, energy intake, fish intake, omega-3 supplements, alcohol consumption and smoking habits during pregnancy. Children within the highest tertile of maternal nut consumption during first pregnancy trimester (>32g/week) had an increase of 2.37 points (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.76, 3.98) in the McCarthy global cognitive scale, compared to the first tertile (median 0g/w). A similar association pattern was observed with the other cognitive scores at the different child ages. Final model estimates by inverse probability weighting (IPW) did not change results. Third pregnancy trimester nut intake showed weaker associations. These data indicate that nut intake during early pregnancy is consistently associated with long-term child neuropsychological development. Future cohort studies and randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm this association pattern in order to further extend nutrition guidelines among pregnant women.

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Intake during Pregnancy and Child Neuropsychological Development: A Multi-Centre Population-Based Birth Cohort Study in Spain

“…Maternal dietary intake for other nutrients that may be associated with neuropsychological outcomes of children [ 11 ] were also explored, which includes protein, iron, folate, vitamin B12, and supplements of omega-3 fatty acids. To further evaluate participant’s diet quality in relevance to the Mediterranean diet, the alternative Mediterranean diet (aMED) score was derived from the FFQs [ 16 ]. PUFA concentrations (% among total fatty acids), collected from a subsample of participants, were then analysed in cord plasma ( n = 947) via fast-gas chromatography.…”

“…For this study, we selected the main cognitive outcomes assessed. Child neuropsychological outcomes were assessed using scores from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development version one (BSID) at 1 year of age [ 15 ], the McCarthy Scale of Children’s Abilities (MSCA) at 4 years of age [ 15 , 16 ], and the computer-based Attention Network Test (ANT) at 7 years of age [ 16 ].…”

“…The BSID consists of a series of subtests for assessing mental and psychomotor development for children from 1 to 30 months of age. The main mental and motor development scores were reviewed, where tasks were administered by several trained neuropsychologists to ensure internal validity and reliability [ 15 , 16 ]. These raw scores were standardized by age at assessment [ 22 ] and centred to a mean of 100, with a standard deviation of 15.…”

“…Nowadays, there is some research about the maternal dietary intake of n-3 PUFAs (including fish and nuts) and its impact on child neurodevelopment [ 9 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. However, longitudinal cohort studies with large sample size are limited.…”

Nutrition in Reproductive Health: Nutritional Conditioning Factors during Pregnancy and Its Impact on Health

“…Nut consumption during early pregnancy is associated with long-term childhood neuropsychological development. A maternal diet with significant consumption of pastries during pregnancy, consisting mainly of baked and sugary products, combined with a longer period of breastfeeding, can lead to the development of food allergies, suggesting a harmful effect of trans fat in the baby [58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68]. The maternal diet can even cushion the risk of other risk factors for neonatal pathology [63].…”