title: Reduced risk of pre-eclampsia with organic vegetable consumption: results from the prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little is known about the potential health effects of eating organic food either in the general population or during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to examine associations between organic food consumption during pregnancy and the risk of pre-eclampsia among nulliparous Norwegian women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Norway, years 2002-2008.
  
  
  METHODS
  28 192 pregnant women (nulliparous, answered food frequency questionnaire and general health questionnaire in mid-pregnancy and no missing information on height, body weight or gestational weight gain).
  
  
  METHODS
  Relative risk was estimated as ORs by performing binary logistic regression with pre-eclampsia as the outcome and organic food consumption as the exposure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of pre-eclampsia in the study sample was 5.3% (n=1491). Women who reported to have eaten organic vegetables 'often' or 'mostly' (n=2493, 8.8%) had lower risk of pre-eclampsia than those who reported 'never/rarely' or 'sometimes' (crude OR=0.76, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.96; adjusted OR=0.79, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.99). The lower risk associated with high organic vegetable consumption was evident also when adjusting for overall dietary quality, assessed as scores on a healthy food pattern derived by principal component analysis. No associations with pre-eclampsia were found for high intake of organic fruit, cereals, eggs or milk, or a combined index reflecting organic consumption.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results show that choosing organically grown vegetables during pregnancy was associated with reduced risk of pre-eclampsia. Possible explanations for an association between pre-eclampsia and use of organic vegetables could be that organic vegetables may change the exposure to pesticides, secondary plant metabolites and/or influence the composition of the gut microbiota.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO), Oslo, Norway Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Torjusen
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Anne Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Brantsæter
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Margaretha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haugen
authors.affiliation: Office of the Director-General, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Leiv S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Bakketeig
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
authors.forename: Geir
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lieblein
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stigum
authors.affiliation: Nofima, Ås, Norway Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Tormod
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Næs
authors.affiliation: Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden Vidarkliniken, Järna, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jackie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Swartz
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Holmboe-Ottesen
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Gun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Roos
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Helle Margrete
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Meltzer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D058870:Food, Organic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MoBa; Organic food; preeclampsia; prospective cohort stuy