title: Maternal dietary fat and fatty acid intake during lactation and the risk of asthma in the offspring.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the association between maternal dietary fat and fatty acid (FA) intake during lactation, and the risk of asthma in the offspring by the age of 5 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects comprised 1798 mother-child pairs from the Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Nutrition Study. Dietary intake was assessed by a validated 181-item food frequency questionnaire, which covered the third month of lactation. The cumulative incidence of asthma was assessed at the age of 5 years with a questionnaire modified from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Cox proportional hazards regression was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The maternal use of margarines during lactation was associated with a marginally increased risk of asthma [hazard ratio (HR) for user vs. nonuser 1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-3.82, p = 0.047] after adjusting for putative confounders. The maternal intakes of n-3 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) and fish during lactation were not associated with the risk of asthma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal use of margarines during lactation was weakly associated with an increased risk of asthma in the offspring at the age of 5 years. Other fats or FAs during lactation were not associated with the risk of asthma. However, the nonadherence to dietary recommendations regarding especially fats of our study population may restrict the generalizability of our results.
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Unit, Department of Lifestyle and Participation, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. mirka.lumia@thl.fi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lumia
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Luukkainen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaila
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tapanainen
authors.forename: H-M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Takkinen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niinistö
authors.forename: B I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Nwaru
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kenward
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ilonen
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Simell
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knip
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veijola
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Virtanen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology*; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007774:Lactation; D008383:Margarine / Q000009:adverse effects; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D008383:Margarine