Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar 6;19(3):e0297614.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297614. eCollection 2024.

Impact of prenatal maternal dietary exclusion on childhood obesity and overweight risk

Brenton Horne  1 , Enamul Kabir  1 , Khorshed Alam  2
Affiliations

Impact of prenatal maternal dietary exclusion on childhood obesity and overweight risk

Brenton Horne et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Child birthweight is a measure of fetal nutrition that is primarily determined by prenatal maternal (PM) diet. Child birthweight and child obesity/overweight risk are well established to be linked. Nevertheless, no studies have investigated the impact of PM dietary exclusion on child obesity/overweight risk or body mass index z-score (BMIz).

Objectives: The study aimed to determine whether PM dietary exclusion affected the child's BMIz, obesity/overweight risk, whether child birthweight serves as a mediator of this, and whether PM use of dietary supplements can protect against this.

Methods: Waves within the years 2004-2019 from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a population-based cohort study, were analyzed. The participants were aged 0 to 15 years during these waves of the study. Analysis was conducted using logistic and linear models. A total of 5,107 participants were involved in the first wave of the study.

Results: The PM exclusion of fish was associated with a higher risk of being underweight at age 14 or 15 years and mild-to-moderate obesity at age 6 or 7 years. The PM exclusion of egg was associated with a higher risk of being overweight at age 14 or 15 years. The exclusion of dairy was associated with more mixed effects. Mediation effects did not reach statistical significance. Moderation effects involving PM dietary supplement use, when they did occur, were associated with higher child BMIz and usually a higher risk of obesity/overweight.

Conclusions: Fish and eggs are likely important parts of PM diets for preventing childhood obesity and overweight. Further studies will be needed to determine reasons for this and the apparent adverse effects of dietary supplements on overweight/obesity risk.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Proposed relationship between variables.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Di Cesare M, Sorić M, Bovet P, Miranda JJ, Bhutta Z, Stevens GA, et al.. The epidemiological burden of obesity in childhood: a worldwide epidemic requiring urgent action. BMC Med. 2019;17: 212. doi: 10.1186/s12916-019-1449-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Health Survey: First results, 2017–18 financial year. 12 Dec 2018. [cited 2 Dec 2022]. Available: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/nat...
    1. Tette EMA, Intiful FD, Asare AA, Enos JY. Pregnancy as a Fundamental Determinant of Child Health: a Review. Curr Nutr Rep. 2022;11: 457–485. doi: 10.1007/s13668-022-00416-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yajnik CS. Transmission of obesity-adiposity and related disorders from the mother to the baby. Ann Nutr Metab. 2014;64 Suppl 1: 8–17. doi: 10.1159/000362608 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ravelli GP, Stein ZA, Susser MW. Obesity in young men after famine exposure in utero and early infancy. N Engl J Med. 1976;295: 349–353. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197608122950701 - DOI - PubMed