Maternal and Paternal Dietary Quality and Dietary Inflammation Associations with Offspring DNA Methylation and Epigenetic Biomarkers of Aging in the Lifeways Cross-Generation Study.

Background: Early-life nutritional exposures may contribute to offspring epigenetic modifications. However, few studies have evaluated parental dietary quality effects on offspring DNA methylation (DNAm).

Objectives: We aim to fill this gap by elucidating the influence of maternal and paternal whole-diet quality and inflammatory potential on offspring DNAm in the Lifeways Cross-generation cohort.

Maternal Glycaemic and Insulinemic Status and Newborn DNA Methylation: Findings in Women With Overweight and Obesity.

Context: Maternal dysglycaemia and prepregnancy obesity are associated with adverse offspring outcomes. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation (DNAm) could contribute.

Objective: To examine relationships between maternal glycaemia, insulinemic status, and dietary glycemic indices during pregnancy and an antenatal behavioral-lifestyle intervention with newborn DNAm.

Pregnancy diet and offspring asthma risk over a 10-year period: the Lifeways Cross Generation Cohort Study, Ireland.

Objective: The association of maternal pregnancy diet with offspring asthma risk have been reported. However, literature on longitudinal patterns of asthma risk relative to intrauterine nutrient exposure is limited. We aimed to establish whether vegetable, oily fish and vitamin D intake during pregnancy are associated with childhood asthma risk over a 10-year period in the Irish Republic.

Mode of Delivery and Asthma at School Age in 9 European Birth Cohorts.

Evidence on the association between mode of delivery and asthma at school age is inconclusive. We assessed the associations between specific modes of delivery and asthma in children from 9 European birth cohorts that enrolled participants between 1996 and 2006. Cohort-specific crude and adjusted risk ratios for asthma at ages 5-9 years were calculated using Poisson regression models and pooled.

The Epidemiology of Meningitis among Adults in a South African Province with a High HIV Prevalence, 2009-2012.

Introduction: Meningitis is a major cause of mortality in southern Africa. We aimed to describe the aetiologies and frequencies of laboratory-confirmed fungal and bacterial meningitis among adults in a South African province with an 11% HIV prevalence, over 4 years.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational study of secondary laboratory data, extracted on all cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens submitted to public-sector laboratories in Gauteng province from 2009 through 2012.

Fish Intake in Pregnancy and Child Growth: A Pooled Analysis of 15 European and US Birth Cohorts.

Importance: Maternal fish intake in pregnancy has been shown to influence fetal growth. The extent to which fish intake affects childhood growth and obesity remains unclear.

Objective: To examine whether fish intake in pregnancy is associated with offspring growth and the risk of childhood overweight and obesity.

Body mass index is associated with the maternal lines but height is heritable across family lines in the Lifeways Cross-Generation Cohort Study.

Objectives: Overweight and obesity is a problem in children in particular and determining pathways of transmission is important in prevention. We aimed to examine associations for body mass index (BMI) across three generations of the same families.

Participants: Members of 556 families in the Lifeways Cross-Generation Cohort Study 2001-2014.

Preterm birth, infant weight gain, and childhood asthma risk: a meta-analysis of 147,000 European children.

Background: Preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant catch-up growth seem associated with an increased risk of respiratory diseases in later life, but individual studies showed conflicting results.

Objectives: We performed an individual participant data meta-analysis for 147,252 children of 31 birth cohort studies to determine the associations of birth and infant growth characteristics with the risks of preschool wheezing (1-4 years) and school-age asthma (5-10 years).

Methods: First, we performed an adjusted 1-stage random-effect meta-analysis to assess the combined associations of gestational age, birth weight, and infant weight gain with childhood asthma.

Fish intake during pregnancy, fetal growth, and gestational length in 19 European birth cohort studies.

Background: Fish is a rich source of essential nutrients for fetal development, but in contrast, it is also a well-known route of exposure to environmental pollutants.

Objective: We assessed whether fish intake during pregnancy is associated with fetal growth and the length of gestation in a panel of European birth cohort studies.

Design: The study sample of 151,880 mother-child pairs was derived from 19 population-based European birth cohort studies.

Longitudinal follow-up of the relationship between dietary intake and growth and development in the Lifeways cross-generation cohort study 2001-2013.

In this paper we will review evidence on the early life and familial influences on childhood growth and development, with particular reference to the Lifeways cross-generation cohort study in the Republic of Ireland. The Lifeways cross-generation cohort study was established in 2001-2013 through two maternity hospitals in the Republic of Ireland and was one of many new cohort studies established worldwide in the millennium period. Mothers were recruited at first booking visit, completing a self-administered questionnaire, which included a 147 item semi-quantitative FFQ.