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. 2018 Apr 21;17(1):47.
doi: 10.1186/s12937-018-0353-y.

Association of maternal omega-6 fatty acid intake with infant birth outcomes: Korean Mothers and Children's Environmental Health (MOCEH)

Eunjung Lee  1   2 , Hyesook Kim  1 , Hyejin Kim  1 , Eun-Hee Ha  3 , Namsoo Chang  4
Affiliations

Association of maternal omega-6 fatty acid intake with infant birth outcomes: Korean Mothers and Children's Environmental Health (MOCEH)

Eunjung Lee et al. Nutr J. .

Abstract

Background: Maternal fatty acids (FAs) intake has an effect on birth weight, birth length, and gestational age, as fetal development is entirely dependent on the maternal essential FA supply. This study aimed to identify the association between the maternal intake of FAs and birth outcomes among pregnant women who participated in the Mothers and Children's Environmental Health (MOCEH) prospective cohort study in South Korea.

Methods: A total of 1407 pregnant women, aged 30.2 ± 3.7 years, at 12 to 28 weeks' gestation were recruited between August 2006 and December 2010. Their dietary intake during pregnancy was investigated by the 1-day 24-h dietary recall method. The pregnancy outcome data-namely infant's gestational age, birth weight, and birth length-were analyzed for their associations with their mothers' intake of FAs.

Results: When adjusted for confounding factors, multiple regression analysis revealed adverse effects on birth weight (P = 0.031) and birth length (P = 0.025) with high maternal intake of omega-6 FAs. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio (OR) for the risk of being below the 10th percentile for birth weight was higher in the highest quintile (Q5) compared to the lowest quintile (Q1) of omega-6 FA intake levels (OR = 2.444; 95% CI = 1.038-5.751; P for trend = 0.010). Also, the OR for being above the 90th percentile of birth length was lower in the highest quintile (Q5) compared to that in the lowest quintile (Q1) of omega-6 FA intake (OR = 0.432; 95% CI = 0.211-0.884; P for trend = 0.020). However, the maternal intake of omega-3 FAs was not related to gestational age, birth weight, or birth length.

Conclusions: A high maternal omega-6 FA intake was negatively associated with birth weight and birth length.

Keywords: Birth weight; Omega-6 fatty acids; Pregnancy outcome; Pregnant women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Study protocols and consent forms were approved by the Institutional Review Boards at Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Dankook University Hospital, and Ulsan University Hospital, respectively. All participants provided informed consent to participate in the study.

Competing interests

All authors, E Lee, H Kim, H Kim, EH Ha, and N Chang, declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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