title: Maternal vitamin D intake during pregnancy and early childhood wheezing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Maternal intake of vitamin D in pregnancy is a potentially modifiable but understudied risk factor for the development of asthma in children.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We investigated whether maternal vitamin D intake in pregnancy is associated with decreased risks of wheezing symptoms in young children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were from a birth cohort recruited in utero with the primary objective of identifying associations between maternal diet during pregnancy and asthma and allergies in children. A random sample of 2000 healthy pregnant women was recruited while attending antenatal clinics at the Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Scotland, at approximately 12 wk gestation. Maternal vitamin D intake was ascertained from a food-frequency questionnaire completed at 32 wk of gestation. The main outcome measures were wheezing symptoms, spirometry, bronchodilator response, atopic sensitization, and exhaled nitric oxide at 5 y.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respiratory details through 5 y and maternal food-frequency-questionnaire data were available for 1212 children. In models adjusted for potential confounders, including the children's vitamin D intake, a comparison of the highest and lowest quintiles of maternal total vitamin D intake conferred lower risks for ever wheeze [odds ratio (OR): 0.48; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.91], wheeze in the previous year (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.83), and persistent wheeze (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.98) in 5-y-old children. In addition, lower maternal total vitamin D intakes in pregnancy were also associated with decreased bronchodilator response (P = 0.04). No associations were observed between maternal vitamin D intakes and spirometry or exhaled nitric oxide concentrations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing maternal vitamin D intakes during pregnancy may decrease the risk of wheeze symptoms in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Devereux
authors.forename: Augusto A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Litonjua
authors.forename: Stephen W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Leone C A
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McNeill
authors.forename: Sheelagh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martindale
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Helms
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seaton
authors.forename: Scott T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013147:Spirometry; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D