Prospective study on the atopy preventive effect of maternal avoidance of milk and eggs during pregnancy and lactation

Abstract

While breast feeding should be promoted for children at risk for atopy, mothers can be encouraged to stay on normal diet during pregnancy and the breast feeding period.

Does maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation affect outcomes in offspring? A systematic review of food-based approaches

“…In one non-randomized preference trial, 30 women chose to completely avoid milk and eggs in the last trimester of pregnancy and while breastfeeding exclusively; 33 women also avoided all milk and eggs, but only while breastfeeding; and 41 women chose no dietary restrictions [41]. In this study, six children of mothers in each of the avoidance groups had eczema in the first year of life compared with 5 children in the group where mothers did not follow dietary restrictions.…”

“…Solid foods were delayed and the children were followed for eczema and food allergy until 10 years of age. Herman et al [41] enrolled 150 pregnant women into a patient preference trial of avoiding cow's milk and egg during pregnancy and lactation. They followed children until 1 year of age for eczema and sensitization.…”

“…Differing interventions and timings outcome assessment precluded pooling, Three other intervention studies also reported the effects of maternal dietary restriction on sensitization [29,41,42,57]. In one [42], no time point showed significant differences between groups for sensitization to any type of food, except for a significantly higher rate of sensitization to egg at two years of age in the intervention group compared to the control group (RR 1.91 95% CI 1.03 to 3.53).The other studies [29,41] reported no significant difference in the rates of sensitization between their intervention groups and control groups at any of the time points measured. …”

Peanut, Milk, and Wheat Intake During Pregnancy Is Associated With Reduced Allergy and Asthma In Children

“…5 Subsequent systematic reviews of the literature concluded that the current evidence is inadequate to support any dietary restrictions during pregnancy. [6][7][8][9] The majority of studies on this topic have been conducted in populations selected for allergic propensity, [10][11][12][13][14] rendering inference to the general population challenging. Further, previous studies of the potential impact of maternal diet during pregnancy have examined only the last month or trimester of pregnancy [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and analyzed outcomes only in the first year(s) of life.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] The majority of studies on this topic have been conducted in populations selected for allergic propensity, [10][11][12][13][14] rendering inference to the general population challenging. Further, previous studies of the potential impact of maternal diet during pregnancy have examined only the last month or trimester of pregnancy [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and analyzed outcomes only in the first year(s) of life. [10][11][12][13][16][17][18] Because many cells thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of allergy and asthma are formed during early pregnancy 19,20 , an examination of exposures during the first and second trimesters could be worthwhile.…”