The association of maternal diet and dietary supplement intake in pregnant New Zealand women with infant birthweight

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association of infant birthweight with maternal diet and supplement intake. Subjects/Methods: Prospective cohort study of 504 European and Polynesian urban and rural pregnant volunteers recruited from northern New Zealand clinics. Subjects were visited in months 4 (mth4) and 7 (mth7) of pregnancy when height, weight and skinfolds were measured, questionnaires to determine personal details administered, and diet assessed by a 24-hour recall and 3-day food record. Results: After adjusting for confounders nutrients accounted for up to 5.0% of the total variance in birthweight. Ethnicity was not a significant confounder. A quadratic relationship existed between birthweight and % total energy (%TE) from carbohydrate, fat and protein, most significantly with carbohydrate energy (P ¼ 0.002). Birthweight was greatest (B3600 g) when carbohydrate %TE was 48%, fat 35% and protein 17%. Birthweight was reduced with high b-carotene intakes (mth4, P ¼ 0.009) and with both high retinol and b-carotene intakes in mth4 and 7 (average). Birthweight was positively associated with increasing pantothenic acid/biotin ratios (P ¼ 0.011), magnesium (P ¼ 0.000) and vitamin D (P ¼ 0.015) intakes in mth4; with biotin (P ¼ 0.040) and B 12 intakes above the RDI (P ¼ 0.006) in mth7; and with pantothenic acid intake in mth4&7 (P ¼ 0.002). Dietary supplement usage was associated with increased birthweight, most significantly iron supplementation (P ¼ 0.006). Conclusion: Birthweight was associated with the %TE from carbohydrate, fat and protein, and with b-carotene, retinol, vitamins D and B 12 , pantothenic acid, biotin and magnesium intakes and iron supplementation. More research may be required on some dietary recommendations for pregnancy.

Eating habits and nutritional status of pregnant women and the course and outcomes of pregnancy

“…A positive correlation was also found between birth weight and level of magnesium and vitamins D, B 12 , biotin, and pantothenic acid in the diet of pregnant women [53].…”

A Framework for Evaluating the Software Product Quality of Pregnancy Monitoring Mobile Personal Health Records

“…PB13: food intake / Diet and PB14: physical activities. The pregnant woman's dietary information and physical exercises should be moderately controlled [21,22]. All the requirements in this block are inherent requirements.…”

Prenatal exposure to vitamin-D from fortified margarine and milk and body size at age 7 years

“…10 A few studies have found vitamin-D intake and status during pregnancy to be associated with off-spring body size in childhood, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] though the direction of the association has been inconsistent. In two studies from the UK, low vitamin-D status in pregnancy was associated with greater fat mass at 4 and 6 years of age 13 and with lower weight and fat mass at 9 years of age.…”