Pregnancy Nutrition and Our Children’s Future

By Amy V. Haas, BCCE

We hear all about eating a good diet during pregnancy to help yourself  be healthier, and have better outcomes, but apparently, what we eat during pregnancy can also affect our children’s future health.  Proper pregnancy nutrition can affect children in multiple ways, most specifically by helping to prevent: Prematurity, Birth defects, Diabetes, Multiple sclerosis, Behavioral problems, Poor cognitive performance, and depression.

Since premature babies can potentially have multiple health, cognitive, & development problems, it’s smart to do everything we can to have them be born full term. The most well-known research found that a diet high in folic acid helps to prevent neural tube defects, but the most recent found that a high quality diet also helps to prevent oral cleft palate defects, behavioral problems, and diabetes.  Another study found that drinking milk can help to prevent Multiple Sclerosis in children later in life.

We are also seeing studies on connections between depression, overall nutritional intake and children’s cognitive development.  Eating foods high in Choline helps children with future memory performance, and DHA supplementation has been connected with better problem solving skills and lower mortality. Higher vitamin D levels not only protect against preeclampsia, but also promote cognitive development in our babies (as do Omega Fatty Acids).

Some of the newest studies, like the one  by Moreno, et al from 2011 and published in the JAMA showed that “ maternal diet quality was more strongly associated with reductions in risks of  NTDs (Neural Tube defects) and orofacial clefts than previous analyses from the NBDPS (National Birth Defects Prevention Study) of maternal intake of single nutrients^{2, 10} supports the proposition that the combined effects may be greater than the sum of individual nutrient effects.”  A study published in 2012 in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine found the same results; thus supporting the concept that you need a variety of nutritional elements to support a healthy pregnancy and prevent problems, rather than just focusing on a single element.

The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology looked at the affect of nutritional counseling for twin pregnancies and found that it improved all pregnancy outcomes significantly, up to the age of three years. This included increased birth weights and gestation periods and a reduced number of births prior to 36 weeks, as well as reduced incidence of premature rupture of membranes and preeclampsia.

Sadly, most of the research focuses on a single element of diet. This evidence is useful to the extent that it is incorporated into a broader nutritional plan.  You have to put it all together and eat that high-quality, varied diet to truly get all of the nutrients needed to grow a new human. In our current medical, magic substance/pill, mindset, we must help interpret these studies to the public so women don’t mistakenly create an apparent malnutrition by focusing solely on one food source or supplement. The best way to obtain all of these elements combined is in a varied, whole food, higher protein diet. It seems eating well gives you not only healthier children, but smarter ones too!

For more information on nutrition during pregnancy check out this article originally published in issue # 5 of Midwifery Today’s Having a Baby Today.

References:

Ozanne, S.,  Cambridge University –  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/health-news/2012/01/06/what-women-eat-while-pregnant-linked-to-diabetes-in-babies-115875-23685473/#ixzz1jf0ujWU1

Baker, E., et. al; Prenatal maternal depression symptoms and nutrition, and child cognitive function BJP bjp.bp.113.129486; published ahead of print October 10, 2013, doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.113.129486

Moreno MA, Furtner F, Rivara FP. Preventing Birth Defects With a Healthy Pregnancy Diet. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012;166(2):200. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.1582.

Iodine Key for IQ; Pregnancy Deficiency Affects Kids’ Brains. Medscape. May 22, 2013

Judge MP, Harel O, Lammi-Keefe CJ. Maternal consumption of a docosahexaenoic acid-containing functional food during pregnancy: benefit for infant performance on problem-solving but not on recognition memory tasks at age 9 mo. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.85(6),1572–1577 (2007).

Mirzaei, F., Drinking Milk During Pregnancy May Lower Baby’s Risk of MS; American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010. http://www.aan.com/press/index.cfm?fuseaction=release.view&release=797

Lowary, F.; Poor Prenatal Diet Linked to Kids’ Behavioral Problems. Medscape. Oct 07, 2013. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/812173?nlid=35565_2042&src=wnl_edit_medn_obgy&uac=12615PY&spon=16

Jacka, et. al.; Maternal and Early Postnatal Nutrition and Mental Health of Offspring by Age 5 Years: A Prospective Cohort Study; J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2013;52:1038-1047. http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567%2813%2900449-8/abstract

Smuts, C.M., et al. (2003). A Randomized Trial of Docosahexaenoic Acid Supplementation During the Third Trimester of Pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol 101(3): 469–79.

Deficiency of Vitamin D (American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1993; Journal of Clinical Investigation 2006;  of Clinical Pediatrics 2007. )

Whitehouse, A., Holt, B., Serralha, M., Holt, P., Kusel, M., Hart, P.; Maternal Serum Vitamin D Levels During Pregnancy and Offspring Neurocognitive Development; Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics; http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/02/08/peds.2011-2644.abstract

Maternal Vitamin D Status Tied to Long-term Outcomes in Kids. Medscape. Dec 16, 2014.

[This is an excerpt from a future publication: Haas, AV; Healthy Babies! Healthy Moms! A Practical Guide to Preventing Problems during Pregnancy, Labor, and Birth , 2014]

Avhaas©2014