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Contrasting prenatal nutrition and environmental exposures in association with birth weight and cognitive function in children at 7 years

Gennings, Chris ; Wolk, Alicja ; Hakansson, Niclas ; Lindh, Christian LU orcid and Bornehag, Carl Gustaf (2020) In BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health 3(2). p.162-171
Abstract

Background Good nutrition is essential for individual health, a notion that is particularly true during pregnancy. We have used a nutrition index that measures the adequacy of one's diet relative to the unique nutritional needs of individuals due to, for example, their activity level, dietary restrictions, lifestyle and body size. The use of this personalised metric of dietary nutritiousness in the analysis of prenatal environmental exposures and developmental outcomes permits testing for potential mitigating effects of good nutrition. We also provide an analysis strategy for investigating the balance in beneficial food sources which are also the source of environmental toxicants. Methods A holistic measure of nutrition, My Nutrition... (More)

Background Good nutrition is essential for individual health, a notion that is particularly true during pregnancy. We have used a nutrition index that measures the adequacy of one's diet relative to the unique nutritional needs of individuals due to, for example, their activity level, dietary restrictions, lifestyle and body size. The use of this personalised metric of dietary nutritiousness in the analysis of prenatal environmental exposures and developmental outcomes permits testing for potential mitigating effects of good nutrition. We also provide an analysis strategy for investigating the balance in beneficial food sources which are also the source of environmental toxicants. Methods A holistic measure of nutrition, My Nutrition Index (MNI), measures the nutrient quality (ie, 'nutritiousness') of a specified daily diet. MNI is calculated based on quantification of dozens of macronutrients and micronutrients that are specific to an individual's nutritional needs by incorporating dietary restrictions, subject characteristics, activity level and health behaviours. The Swedish Environmental, Longitudinal, Mother and child, Asthma and allergy Study is a Swedish pregnancy cohort, with prenatal endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) exposure and dietary data available. This makes it possible to test for the potential mitigating effects of good nutrition on health and development effects in offspring from EDCs. Results Using prenatal Food Frequency Questionnaire data to construct an individual's MNI, the index was significantly and positively associated with important metabolic outcome (as measured by birth weight) and cognitive function at age 7 years (as measured by WISC IQ) in children when adjusted for covariates and prenatal concentrations of an EDC. In a stratified analysis of 'low' and 'high' fish consumption, a potential source of perfluoro-octanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the association between PFOS and birth weight was diminished in the high consumption group compared with the low consumption group. Conclusions Thus, MNI is evidently a metric of the general nutritiousness of daily diets and is useful in environmental health studies in representing the impact of good nutrition, even during pregnancy.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
cognitive performance, nutrition assessment
in
BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health
volume
3
issue
2
article number
e000087
pages
10 pages
publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:33521525
  • scopus:85100211522
ISSN
2516-5542
DOI
10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000099
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ce2379ab-296f-43d7-a560-07262b1592a6
date added to LUP
2021-02-16 09:46:39
date last changed
2024-03-05 21:15:38
@article{ce2379ab-296f-43d7-a560-07262b1592a6,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background Good nutrition is essential for individual health, a notion that is particularly true during pregnancy. We have used a nutrition index that measures the adequacy of one's diet relative to the unique nutritional needs of individuals due to, for example, their activity level, dietary restrictions, lifestyle and body size. The use of this personalised metric of dietary nutritiousness in the analysis of prenatal environmental exposures and developmental outcomes permits testing for potential mitigating effects of good nutrition. We also provide an analysis strategy for investigating the balance in beneficial food sources which are also the source of environmental toxicants. Methods A holistic measure of nutrition, My Nutrition Index (MNI), measures the nutrient quality (ie, 'nutritiousness') of a specified daily diet. MNI is calculated based on quantification of dozens of macronutrients and micronutrients that are specific to an individual's nutritional needs by incorporating dietary restrictions, subject characteristics, activity level and health behaviours. The Swedish Environmental, Longitudinal, Mother and child, Asthma and allergy Study is a Swedish pregnancy cohort, with prenatal endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) exposure and dietary data available. This makes it possible to test for the potential mitigating effects of good nutrition on health and development effects in offspring from EDCs. Results Using prenatal Food Frequency Questionnaire data to construct an individual's MNI, the index was significantly and positively associated with important metabolic outcome (as measured by birth weight) and cognitive function at age 7 years (as measured by WISC IQ) in children when adjusted for covariates and prenatal concentrations of an EDC. In a stratified analysis of 'low' and 'high' fish consumption, a potential source of perfluoro-octanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the association between PFOS and birth weight was diminished in the high consumption group compared with the low consumption group. Conclusions Thus, MNI is evidently a metric of the general nutritiousness of daily diets and is useful in environmental health studies in representing the impact of good nutrition, even during pregnancy.</p>}},
  author       = {{Gennings, Chris and Wolk, Alicja and Hakansson, Niclas and Lindh, Christian and Bornehag, Carl Gustaf}},
  issn         = {{2516-5542}},
  keywords     = {{cognitive performance; nutrition assessment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{162--171}},
  publisher    = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health}},
  title        = {{Contrasting prenatal nutrition and environmental exposures in association with birth weight and cognitive function in children at 7 years}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000099}},
  doi          = {{10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000099}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}