title: Maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and intelligence quotients in the offspring at 8 years of age: Findings from the ALSPAC cohort.
abstract: Dietary intake during pregnancy may influence child neurodevelopment and cognitive function. This study aims to investigate the associations between dietary patterns obtained in pregnancy and intelligence quotients (IQ) among offspring at 8 years of age. Pregnant women enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children completed a food frequency questionnaire at 32 weeks' gestation (n = 12,195). Dietary patterns were obtained by cluster analysis. Three clusters best described women's diets during pregnancy: "fruit and vegetables," "meat and potatoes," and "white bread and coffee." The offspring's IQ at 8 years of age was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Models, using variables correlated to IQ data, were performed to impute missing values. Linear regression models were employed to investigate associations between the maternal clusters and IQ in childhood. Children of women who were classified in the meat and potatoes cluster and white bread and coffee cluster during pregnancy had lower average verbal (β = -1.74; p < .001 and β = -3.05; p < .001), performance (β = -1.26; p = .011 and β = -1.75; p < .001), and full-scale IQ (β = -1.74; p < .001 and β = -2.79; p < .001) at 8 years of age when compared to children of mothers in the fruit and vegetables cluster in imputed models of IQ and all confounders, after adjustment for a wide range of known confounders including maternal education. The pregnant women who were classified in the fruit and vegetables cluster had offspring with higher average IQ compared with offspring of mothers in the meat and potatoes cluster and white bread and coffee cluster.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Epidemiology Observatory, Department of Social and Applied Nutrition, Institute of Nutrition Josué de Castro, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Amélia
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1122-3846
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Freitas-Vilela
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Emmett
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heron
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew D A C
authors.initials: ADAC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Emond
authors.affiliation: Section of Nutritional Neurosciences, Laboratory of Membrane Biology and Biophysics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hibbeln
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Epidemiology Observatory, Department of Social and Applied Nutrition, Institute of Nutrition Josué de Castro, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Beatriz Trindade
authors.initials: MBT
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Epidemiology Observatory, Department of Social and Applied Nutrition, Institute of Nutrition Josué de Castro, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kac
mesh_terms: D001939:Bread; D002648:Child; D003069:Coffee; D004032:Diet / Q000145:classification; D015930:Diet Records; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008460:Meat; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011198:Solanum tuberosum; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee
keywords: ALSPAC; children; cluster analysis; dietary patterns; intelligence quotient; pregnancy