title: Dietary patterns, n-3 fatty acids intake from seafood and high levels of anxiety symptoms during pregnancy: findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about relationships between dietary patterns, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) intake and excessive anxiety during pregnancy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether dietary patterns and n-3 PUFA intake from seafood are associated with high levels of anxiety during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pregnant women enrolled from 1991-1992 in ALSPAC (n 9,530). Dietary patterns were established from a food frequency questionnaire using principal component analysis. Total intake of n-3 PUFA (grams/week) from seafood was also examined. Symptoms of anxiety were measured at 32 weeks of gestation with the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index; scores ≥ 9 corresponding to the 85(th) percentile was defined as high anxiety symptoms. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the OR and 95% CI, adjusted by socioeconomic and lifestyle variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate results showed that women in the highest tertile of the health-conscious (OR 0.77; 0.65-0.93) and the traditional (OR 0.84; 0.73-0.97) pattern scores were less likely to report high levels of anxiety symptoms. Women in the highest tertile of the vegetarian pattern score (OR 1.25; 1.08-1.44) were more likely to have high levels of anxiety, as well as those with no n-3 PUFA intake from seafood (OR 1.53; 1.25-1.87) when compared with those with intake of >1.5 grams/week.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study provides evidence of a relationship between dietary patterns, fish intake or n-3 PUFA intake from seafood and symptoms of anxiety in pregnancy, and suggests that dietary interventions could be used to reduce high anxiety symptoms during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. juliana.vaz@gmail.com
authors.forename: Juliana dos Santos
authors.initials: Jdos S
authors.lastname: Vaz
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kac
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Emmett
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Golding
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hibbeln
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010290:Parents; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D017747:Seafood; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3