Maternal Diet Quality and the Health Status of Newborns

• Published in: Foods Vol. 11; no. 23; p. 3893
• Main Authors: Pavlikova, Jitka, Ambroz, Antonin, Honkova, Katerina, Chvojkova, Irena, Sram, Radim J, Rossner, Jr, Pavel, Topinka, Jan, Gramblicka, Tomas, Parizek, Ondrej, Parizkova, Denisa, Schmuczerova, Jana, Pulkrabova, Jana, Rossnerova, Andrea
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: 8-isoprostane; Air pollution; Birth weight; Childbirth & labor; Chromatography; Contamination; DDT; Diet; Flame retardants; Food; Food and nutrition; Food science; Hospitals; Infants (Newborn); Insecticides; Mass spectrometry; maternal diet quality; maternal protein intake; Metabolism; Mothers; Neonates; Normal distribution; Nutrition assessment; Nutrition research; Nutritive value; Oxidative stress; PCB; Persistent organic pollutants; Pesticides; Physiological aspects; Plasma; Pollutants; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Pregnancy; Quality assessment; Questionnaires; Scientific imaging; Statistical analysis; Stress analysis; Umbilical cord; Womens health; Czech Republic; birth weight; 8-isoprostane; DDT; maternal diet quality; persistent organic pollutants; maternal protein intake; oxidative stress
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods11233893

The maternal diet during pregnancy affects neonatal health status. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional quality of the maternal diet, and its contamination by persistent organic pollutants (POPs), in pregnant women living in two areas of the Czech Republic with different levels of air pollution, and subsequently to assess the relationship of these two factors with birth weight and neonatal oxidative stress. To determine the level of oxidative stress, 8-isoprostane concentrations in umbilical cord plasma were measured. The overall nutritional quality of the maternal diet was not optimal. Of the nutritional factors, protein intake proved to be the most significant showing a positive relationship with birth weight, and a negative relationship with the oxidative stress of newborns. Dietary contamination by persistent organic pollutants was low and showed no statistically significant relationship with birth weight. Only one of the 67 analyzed POPs, namely the insecticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), showed a statistically significant positive relationship with the level of neonatal oxidative stress.