title: Maternal fatty acid intake during pregnancy and the development of childhood overweight: a birth cohort study.
abstract: Maternal diet during pregnancy may contribute to the risk of offspring adiposity.
  
  
  
  The objective of the study is to explore the associations between maternal antenatal dietary fatty acid intake and the risk of offspring overweight and obesity at the ages of 2 to 7 years.
  
  
  
  In a prospective Finnish birth cohort with 3807 mother-child pairs, maternal diet in late pregnancy was assessed with a food frequency questionnaire. Intakes of total fatty acids and individual saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were calculated. Generalized estimating equation models were used to study the associations of maternal dietary variables with repeatedly measured offspring overweight and obesity.
  
  
  
  In girls, maternal intake ratio of n-6:n-3 PUFAs had a U-shaped association with obesity (adjusted OR for the lowest 2.0 [95% CI 1.27-3.20] and the highest 1.7 [1.03-2.73] vs. the two middle quartiles of n-6:n-3 PUFAs, p = 0.01). In boys, arachidonic acid (20:4n-6): docosahexaenoic acid + eicosapentaenoic acid ratio was associated with obesity (adjusted OR for the lowest 1.0 [0.60-1.57] and the highest 0.5 [0.26-0.88] vs. the two middle quartiles, p = 0.02). Saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids were not associated with overweight or obesity in either sex.
  
  
  
  Maternal intakes of PUFAs in late pregnancy were associated with risk of later obesity differently in girls and boys.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hakola
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.|Department of Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: H-M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Takkinen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niinistö
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.|Department of Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.|The Science Center of Pirkanmaa Hospital District, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahonen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Erlund
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rautanen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, PEDEGO Research Unit, Medical Research Center Oulu, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veijola
authors.affiliation: Immunogenetics Laboratory, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ilonen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.|Department of Pediatrics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toppari
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.|Research Programs Unit, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.|Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland.|Center for Child Health Research, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knip
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.|Department of Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.|The Science Center of Pirkanmaa Hospital District, Tampere, Finland.|Center for Child Health Research, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.|Department of Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lehtinen-Jacks
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids
keywords: Children; cohort studies; diet; fatty acids; overweight; pregnancy