A healthy maternal dietary pattern is associated with lower offspring adiposity

What is it about?

Using data reduction method, we identified three dietary patterns in Singaporean (of Chinese, Malay, or Indian descents) pregnant women: (1) vegetables-fruit-and-white rice (VFR) characterized by high consumption of fruit, vegetables, and white rice and low consumption of fast food items and flavored rice; (2) seafood-and-noodles characterized by high intakes of noodles, seafood, and soya sauce based gravies and low intakes of curry and ethnic bread (SfN); and (3) pasta-cheese-and-bread (PCB) characterized by high consumption of pasta, cheese, bread, and butter. We found that higher maternal adherence to the VFR pattern is associated with lower adiposity (less fats) of their children from birth through 54 months of age, as assessed using longitudinal analysis method called linear mixed effects model. Other maternal dietary patterns were not consistently associated with adiposity of the children.

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Why is it important?

The prevalence of childhood obesity has risen at an alarming rate. Childhood obesity is associated with higher risk of adverse health outcomes later in life, pointing to the need to identify its modifiable risk factors urgently. The Development Origins of Health and Diseases (DOHaD) theory posits that early life exposure including maternal nutrition may have long term influence on offspring health and is supported by increasing evidence in numerous human population. Our study adds to the current literature as there is little evidence from Asia, where dietary behaviours may be vastly different.

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