Effects of prepregnancy dietary patterns on infant birth weight: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Background

Maternal nutrition can have a profound effect on fetal growth, development, and subsequent infant birth weight. However, little is known regarding the influence of prepregnancy dietary patterns.

Objectives

This study aimed to explore the effects between prepregnancy dietary patterns on birth weight.

Methods

This study included 911 singleton live-born infants from the Taicang and Wuqiang Mother–Child Cohort Study (TAWS). Baseline information and prepregnancy diet data were collected during early pregnancy. Newborn birth information was obtained from the Wuqiang County Hospital. Macrosomia, defined as a birth weight of ≥4000 g, and large for gestational age (LGA), defined as a birth weight higher than the 90th percentile for the same sex and gestational age, were the outcomes of interest. The dietary patterns were extracted using principal component analysis. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between prepregnancy dietary patterns (in tertiles) and macrosomia and LGA, and subgroup analysis was further explored by pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI).

Results

Four dietary patterns were identified based on 15 food groups. These patterns were named as “cereals–vegetables–fruits,” “vegetables–poultry–aquatic products,” “milk–meat–eggs,” and “nuts–aquatic products–snacks.” After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, pregnancy complications, and other dietary patterns, greater adherence to the “cereals–vegetables–fruits” pattern before pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of macrosomia (adjusted OR = 2.220, 95% CI: 1.018, 4.843), while greater adherence to the “nuts–aquatic products–snacks” pattern was associated with a lower risk of macrosomia (adjusted OR = 0.357, 95% CI: 0.175, 0.725) compared to the lowest tertile. No significant association was observed between prepregnancy dietary patterns and LGA. However, after subgroup analysis of pre-pregnancy BMI, “cereals–vegetables–fruits” pattern was associated with an increased risk of LGA in overweight and obese mothers (adjusted OR = 2.353, 95% CI: 1.010, 5.480).

Conclusions

An unbalanced pre-pregnancy diet increases the risk of macrosomia and LGA, especially in overweight or obese women before pre-pregnancy.

Keywords:

• Dietary patterns
• pregnancy
• macrosomia
• LGA
• birth weight

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted as part of the Taicang and Wuqiang Mother–Child Cohort Study (TAWS) by the National Institute for Nutrition and Health. We are grateful to all collaborating organizations and staff of TAWS and all study participants.

Author contributions

The authors’ responsibilities were as follows: YiZ, YoZ, YD, CL, and ZC designed the study; YiZ and JD analyzed the data and interpreted the results; YiZ and YoZ wrote the manuscript; YD, CL, ZY, and ZC provided critical input to the manuscript; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, ZC, upon reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.