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Maternal Intake of Vitamins A, C, D, and E During Pregnancy and Risk of Type 1 Diabetes in the Child : The Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study

Mattila, Markus ; Tapia, German ; Størdal, Ketil ; Brantsæter, Anne Lise ; Virtanen, Suvi M. ; Lund-Blix, Nicolai A. ; Skrivarhaug, Torild ; Hård af Segerstad, Elin M. LU orcid and Stene, Lars C. (2026) In American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 124(3).
Abstract

Background: Dietary vitamins play a role in antioxidant defense and immunoregulation. However, prospective studies exploring the association between vitamin intakes during pregnancy and the child’s risk of type 1 diabetes are limited. Objectives: This population-based prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the association between maternal intake of vitamins A, C, D, and E during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in children. Methods: We included 85,244 children born between 2002 and 2009 in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, with follow-up until 31 December, 2021. Maternal intake of vitamins from food and dietary supplements from conception to the 22nd week of pregnancy was assessed with a validated food frequency... (More)

Background: Dietary vitamins play a role in antioxidant defense and immunoregulation. However, prospective studies exploring the association between vitamin intakes during pregnancy and the child’s risk of type 1 diabetes are limited. Objectives: This population-based prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the association between maternal intake of vitamins A, C, D, and E during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in children. Methods: We included 85,244 children born between 2002 and 2009 in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, with follow-up until 31 December, 2021. Maternal intake of vitamins from food and dietary supplements from conception to the 22nd week of pregnancy was assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs), adjusting for background factors. Results: During follow-up, 529 (0.6%) children were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a mean age of 9.4 y (standard deviation: 4.1 y) No associations were observed between maternal pregnancy intake of vitamin A [HR: 0.993; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.983, 1.003/100 μg], vitamin C (HR: 1.000; 95% CI: 0.993, 1.007/10 mg), vitamin D (HR: 0.991; 95% CI: 0.978, 1.003/1 μg), or vitamin E (HR: 0.999; 95% CI: 0.996, 1.004/10 mg) and risk of type 1 diabetes in the child when adjusted for potential confounders. The results were similar when intakes were assessed separately from food and dietary supplements and after restriction to children with human leukocyte antigen DQ2 and/or DQ8 risk haplotypes. Conclusions: This prospective cohort study does not support the hypothesis that higher maternal intake of vitamins A, C, D, and E during pregnancy would decrease risk of type 1 diabetes in the child. Corroborated with previous evidence, our findings support a general pattern of null associations.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
contributor
LU ; LU orcid ; LU and LU
author collaboration
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
diabetes mellitus, diet, dietary supplements, MoBa, observational study, pregnancy, type 1, vitamins
in
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
volume
124
issue
3
article number
101431
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105046222065
  • pmid:42431596
ISSN
0002-9165
DOI
10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101431
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Society for Nutrition. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
id
efe06ef4-360b-4d8e-b108-e7b8ee955533
date added to LUP
2026-08-27 08:25:03
date last changed
2026-08-31 10:04:39
@article{efe06ef4-360b-4d8e-b108-e7b8ee955533,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Dietary vitamins play a role in antioxidant defense and immunoregulation. However, prospective studies exploring the association between vitamin intakes during pregnancy and the child’s risk of type 1 diabetes are limited. Objectives: This population-based prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the association between maternal intake of vitamins A, C, D, and E during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in children. Methods: We included 85,244 children born between 2002 and 2009 in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, with follow-up until 31 December, 2021. Maternal intake of vitamins from food and dietary supplements from conception to the 22nd week of pregnancy was assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs), adjusting for background factors. Results: During follow-up, 529 (0.6%) children were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a mean age of 9.4 y (standard deviation: 4.1 y) No associations were observed between maternal pregnancy intake of vitamin A [HR: 0.993; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.983, 1.003/100 μg], vitamin C (HR: 1.000; 95% CI: 0.993, 1.007/10 mg), vitamin D (HR: 0.991; 95% CI: 0.978, 1.003/1 μg), or vitamin E (HR: 0.999; 95% CI: 0.996, 1.004/10 mg) and risk of type 1 diabetes in the child when adjusted for potential confounders. The results were similar when intakes were assessed separately from food and dietary supplements and after restriction to children with human leukocyte antigen DQ2 and/or DQ8 risk haplotypes. Conclusions: This prospective cohort study does not support the hypothesis that higher maternal intake of vitamins A, C, D, and E during pregnancy would decrease risk of type 1 diabetes in the child. Corroborated with previous evidence, our findings support a general pattern of null associations.</p>}},
  author       = {{Mattila, Markus and Tapia, German and Størdal, Ketil and Brantsæter, Anne Lise and Virtanen, Suvi M. and Lund-Blix, Nicolai A. and Skrivarhaug, Torild and Hård af Segerstad, Elin M. and Stene, Lars C.}},
  issn         = {{0002-9165}},
  keywords     = {{diabetes mellitus; diet; dietary supplements; MoBa; observational study; pregnancy; type 1; vitamins}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{American Journal of Clinical Nutrition}},
  title        = {{Maternal Intake of Vitamins A, C, D, and E During Pregnancy and Risk of Type 1 Diabetes in the Child : The Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101431}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101431}},
  volume       = {{124}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}