Maternal diet quality in pregnancy and neonatal adiposity: the Healthy Start Study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Poor maternal diet in pregnancy can influence fetal growth and development. We tested the hypothesis that poor maternal diet quality during pregnancy would increase neonatal adiposity (percent fat mass (%FM)) at birth by increasing the fat mass (FM) component of neonatal body composition. METHODS: Our analysis was conducted using a prebirth observational cohort of 1079 mother-offspring pairs. Pregnancy diet was assessed via repeated Automated Self-Administered 24-h dietary recalls, from which Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) scores were calculated for each mother. HEI-2010 was dichotomized into scores of ⩽57 and >57, with low scores representing poorer diet quality. Neonatal %FM was assessed within 72 h after birth with air displacement plethysmography. Using univariate and multivariate linear models, we analyzed the relationship between maternal diet quality and neonatal %FM, FM, and fat-free mass (FFM) while adjusting for prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), physical activity, maternal age, smoking, energy intake, preeclampsia, hypertension, infant sex and gestational age. RESULTS: Total HEI-2010 score ranged between 18.2 and 89.5 (mean: 54.2, s.d.: 13.6). An HEI-2010 score of ⩽57 was significantly associated with higher neonatal %FM (ß=0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.07-1.1, P<0.05) and FM (ß=20.74; 95% CI 1.49-40.0; P<0.05) but no difference in FFM. CONCLUSIONS: Poor diet quality during pregnancy increases neonatal adiposity independent of maternal prepregnancy BMI and total caloric intake. This further implicates maternal diet as a potentially important exposure for fetal adiposity.

Timing of complementary food introduction and age at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes: the SEARCH nutrition ancillary study (SNAS).

The association between timing of complementary food introduction and age at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was investigated among 1077 children in the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study. Age at diagnosis was 5 months earlier for children introduced to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in the first 12 months of life compared with those who were not (9.0±0.2 vs 9.5±0.1; P=0.02) independent of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) risk status. Analyses stratified by HLA risk status found that children with a high-risk HLA genotype had an earlier age at diagnosis if they were introduced to fruit juice in the first year of life (mean age at diagnosis=9.3±0.1, 9.1±0.1 and 9.6±0.2 for introduction at ⩽6 months, between 7 and 11 months and ⩾12 months, respectively; P=0.04). Introduction of SSB in the first year of life may accelerate the onset of type 1 diabetes independent of HLA risk status.

The impact of neonatal breast-feeding on growth trajectories of youth exposed and unexposed to diabetes in utero: the EPOCH Study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of breast-feeding on the body mass index (BMI) growth trajectory from birth through 13 years of age among offspring of diabetic pregnancies (ODP) and offspring of non-diabetic pregnancies (ONDP) participating in the Exploring Perinatal Outcomes Among Children Study. SUBJECTS: There were 94 ODP and 399 ONDP who had multiple BMI measures obtained from birth throughout childhood. A measure of breast milk-months was derived from maternal self-report to categorize breast-feeding status as adequate (≥6 breast milk-months) or low (<6 breast milk-months). Mixed linear-effects models were constructed to assess the impact of breast-feeding on the BMI growth curves during infancy (birth to 27 months) and childhood (27 months to 13 years). RESULTS: ODP who were adequately breast-fed had a slower BMI growth trajectory during childhood (P=0.047) and slower period-specific growth velocity with significant differences between 4 and 6 years of age (P=0.03) and 6 to 9 years of age (P=0.01) compared with ODP with low breast-feeding. A similar pattern was seen in the ONDP, with adequate breast-feeding associated with lower average BMI in infancy (P=0.03) and childhood (P=0.0002) and a slower growth trajectory in childhood (P=0.0002). Slower period-specific growth velocity was seen among the ONDP associated with adequate breast-feeding with significant differences between 12-26 months (P=0.02), 4-6 years (P=0.03), 6-9 years (P=0.0001) and 9-13 years of age (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our study provides novel evidence that breast-feeding is associated with long-term effects on childhood BMI growth that extend beyond infancy into early and late childhood. Importantly, these effects are also present in the high-risk offspring, exposed to overnutrition during pregnancy. Breast-feeding in the early postnatal period may represent a critical opportunity to reduce the risk of childhood obesity.

Cardiovascular risk factors in children exposed to maternal diabetes in utero.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Recent studies have provided evidence that intrauterine exposure to maternal diabetes has lifelong effects on adult offspring, including increased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between exposure to maternal diabetes in utero and cardiovascular risk factors in healthy children and to investigate whether these associations are independent of maternal prepregnancy BMI and offspring attained BMI. METHODS: Data were from a retrospective cohort of children aged 6-13 years born during 1994-2002. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the associations between exposure and cardiovascular risk factors with adjustment for demographic factors and pubertal stage and additionally for maternal prepregnancy BMI and offspring attained BMI. RESULTS: Ninety-nine offspring of diabetic pregnancies had significantly increased E-selectin, vascular adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM1), leptin, waist circumference, BMI and systolic blood pressure and decreased adiponectin levels compared with 422 offspring of non-diabetic pregnancies after adjustment for age, sex and race/ethnicity (p < 0.05 for each risk factor). Additional adjustment for maternal prepregnancy BMI substantially attenuated group differences in the risk factors except for E-selectin, VCAM1 and waist circumference, which remained significantly higher in exposed children. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Compared with unexposed children, healthy offspring exposed to maternal diabetes in utero have a worse cardiovascular risk profile. In particular, offspring have substantially increased levels of circulating cellular adhesion molecules, which are biomarkers of adverse endothelium perturbation and may be related to the earliest preclinical stages of atherosclerosis and diabetes.

Association of exposure to diabetes in utero with adiposity and fat distribution in a multiethnic population of youth: the Exploring Perinatal Outcomes among Children (EPOCH) Study.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: To evaluate whether exposure to maternal gestational diabetes (GDM) is associated with adiposity and fat distribution in a multiethnic population of children. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of 82 children exposed to maternal GDM and 379 unexposed youths 6-13 years of age with measured BMI, waist circumference, skinfold thickness, and visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat. RESULTS: Exposure to maternal GDM was associated with higher BMI (p = 0.02), larger waist circumference (p = 0.004), more subcutaneous abdominal fat (p = 0.01) and increased subscapular to triceps skinfold thickness ratio (p = 0.01) in models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity and Tanner stage. Adjustment for socioeconomic factors, birthweight and gestational age, maternal smoking during pregnancy and current diet and physical activity did not influence associations; however, adjustment for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI attenuated all associations. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Exposure to maternal GDM is associated with increased overall and abdominal adiposity, and a more central fat distribution pattern in 6- to 13-year-old youths from a multi-ethnic population, providing further support for the fetal overnutrition hypothesis.