Maternal diet in pregnancy and child's respiratory outcomes: an individual participant data meta-analysis of 18 000 children.

Rationale: Severe fetal malnutrition has been related to an increased risk of respiratory diseases later in life, but evidence for the association of a suboptimal diet during pregnancy with respiratory outcomes in childhood is conflicting. We aimed to examine whether a pro-inflammatory or low-quality maternal diet during pregnancy was associated with child's respiratory health.

Methods: We performed an individual participant meta-analysis among 18 326 mother-child pairs from seven European birth cohorts. Maternal pro-inflammatory and low-quality diets were estimated by energy-adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII) and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) scores. Preschool wheezing and school-age asthma were measured using questionnaires and lung function by spirometry.

Results: After adjustment for lifestyle and sociodemographic factors, we observed that a higher maternal E-DII score (a more pro-inflammatory diet) during pregnancy was associated only with a lower forced vital capacity (FVC) in children (z-score difference -0.05, 95% CI -0.08- -0.02, per interquartile range increase). No linear associations of the maternal E-DII or DASH score with child's wheezing or asthma were observed. In an exploratory examination of the extremes, a very low DASH score (<10th percentile) (a very low dietary quality) was associated with an increased risk of preschool wheezing and a low forced expiratory volume in 1 s/FVC (z-score <-1.64) (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.06-1.36 and z-score difference 1.40, 95% CI 1.06-1.85, compared to ≥10th percentile), with corresponding population attributable risk fractions of 1.7% and 3.3%, respectively.

Conclusion: The main results from this individual participant data meta-analysis do not support the hypothesis that maternal pro-inflammatory or low-quality diet in pregnancy are related to respiratory diseases in childhood.