Effect of dietary factors in pregnancy on risk of pregnancy complications: results from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 94; no. 6S; pp. 1970S - S1974
• Main Authors: MELTZER, Helle Margrete, BRANTSOETER, Anne Lise, NILSEN, Roy M, MAGNUS, Per, ALEXANDER, Jan, HAUGEN, Margareta
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Nutrition 01.12.2011; American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Birth Weight; Diet; Diet, Mediterranean; Effects; Epigenetics; Feeding Behavior; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Folic Acid - administration & dosage; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Maternal & child health; Norway - epidemiology; Nutrition; Nutrition Assessment; Nutritional Status; Pre-Eclampsia - epidemiology; Pre-Eclampsia - etiology; Pre-Eclampsia - pathology; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - epidemiology; Pregnancy Complications - etiology; Premature Birth - metabolism; Prospective Studies; Risk assessment; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vitamin D - administration & dosage; White People; Norway; United States > US; Europe; Pregnancy; Human; Mother; Cohort study; Risk factor; Complication; Child
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.110.001248

There has been a thrilling development , as well as profound changes, in our understanding of the effect of fetal nutrition on the development and health of the child. The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) is an ongoing nationwide population-based pregnancy cohort study that between 1999 and 2008 recruited 90,723 women with 106,981 pregnancies and 108,487 children. The objective of MoBa is to test specific etiologic hypotheses by estimating the association between exposures and diseases with a special focus on disorders that may originate in early life. An important aspect in this regard is maternal diet and nutritional status during pregnancy. Nutritional factors have long been considered to be important determinants of maternal and fetal health, and dietary information is currently being collected in a number of pregnancy cohorts in Europe and the United States. Thus far, pregnancy complications studied in MoBa are preterm birth, preeclampsia, and fetal growth; and the aim of this article is to report results of recently published studies of dietary factors in relation to these outcomes. Numerous studies are planned using MoBa data, and the aim is to add to the knowledge of the interplay between dietary factors, nonnutrients, and toxic dietary substances and epigenetic modulation on fetal development and health later in life.