Dataset Information

Maternal Alcohol Use and Nutrition During Pregnancy: Diet and Anthropometry.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite known risks of prenatal nutritional deficiencies and studies documenting increased prevalence of poor dietary intake among nonpregnant alcohol abusers, the nutritional status of heavy drinking pregnant women remains largely unstudied. Animal models have found interactions between prenatal ethanol exposure and micronutrients, such as choline, folate, B12, and iron, and human studies have reported that lower maternal weight and body mass confer increased fetal alcohol-related risk.

Methods

One hundred and twenty-three heavy drinking Cape Coloured pregnant women and 83 abstaining controls were recruited at their first antenatal clinic visit. At 3 prenatal study visits, each gravida was interviewed about alcohol, smoking, and drug use and weight, height, and arm skinfolds were measured. Dietary intakes of energy, protein, fat, and major micronutrients were assessed from three 24-hour recall interviews.

Results

The majority of women gained less than the recommended 0.42 kg/wk during pregnancy. Whereas methamphetamine use was associated with smaller biceps skinfolds, an indicator of body fat, alcohol consumption was not related to any anthropometric indicator. Alcohol was related to higher intake of phosphorus, choline, and vitamins B12 and D. Alcohol, cigarette, and methamphetamine use were related to lower vitamin C intake. Insufficient intake was reported by >85% of women for 10 of 22 key nutrients, and >50% for an additional 3 nutrients.

Conclusions

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy was not associated with meaningful changes in diet or anthropometric measures in this population, suggesting that poor nutrition among drinkers does not confound the extensively reported effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on growth and neurobehavior. The poor gestational weight gain and high rates of insufficient intake for several nutrients in both the alcohol-exposed and control groups are also of public health importance.

SUBMITTER: Carter RC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9297192 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportanceMaternal tobacco use during pregnancy (MTDP) persists across the globe. Longitudinal assessment of the association of MTDP with neurocognitive development of offspring at late childhood is limited.ObjectivesTo examine whether MTDP is associated with child neurocognitive development at ages 9 to 12 years.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study included children aged 9 and 10 years at wave 1 (October 2016 to October 2018) and aged 11 to 12 years at a 2-year follow-up (wave 2, August 2018 to January 2021) across 21 US sites in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Data were analyzed from June 2022 to December 2023.ExposureMTDP.Main outcomes and measuresOutcomes of interest were neurocognition, measured by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox Cognition Battery, and morphometric brain measures through the region of interest (ROI) analysis from structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI).ResultsAmong 11 448 children at wave 1 (mean [SD] age, 9.9 [0.6] years; 5990 [52.3%] male), 1607 children were identified with MTDP. In the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery, children with MTDP (vs no MTDP) exhibited lower scores on the oral reading recognition (mean [SE] B = -1.2 [0.2]; P < .001), picture sequence memory (mean [SE] B = -2.3 [0.6]; P < .001), and picture vocabulary (mean [SE] B = -1.2 [0.3]; P < .001) tests and the crystallized cognition composite score (mean [SE] B = -1.3 [0.3]; P < .001) at wave 1. These differential patterns persisted at wave 2. In sMRI, children with MTDP (vs no MTDP) had smaller cortical areas in precentral (mean [SE] B = -104.2 [30.4] mm2; P = .001), inferior parietal (mean [SE] B = -153.9 [43.4] mm2; P < .001), and entorhinal (mean [SE] B = -25.1 [5.8] mm2; P < .001) regions and lower cortical volumes in precentral (mean [SE] B = -474.4 [98.2] mm3; P < .001), inferior parietal (mean [SE] B = -523.7 [136.7] mm3; P < .001), entorhinal (mean [SE] B = -94.1 [24.5] mm3; P < .001), and parahippocampal (mean [SE] B = -82.6 [18.7] mm3; P < .001) regions at wave 1. Distinct cortical volume patterns continued to be significant at wave 2. Frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes exhibited differential ROI, while there were no notable distinctions in the occipital lobe and insula cortex.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study, MTDP was associated with enduring deficits in childhood neurocognition. Continued research on the association of MTDP with cognitive performance and brain structure related to language processing skills and episodic memory is needed.