Mediterranean dietary pattern in pregnant women and offspring risk of overweight and abdominal obesity in early childhood: the INMA birth cohort study

Summary Background Animal models have suggested that maternal diet quality may reduce offspring obesity risk regardless of maternal body weight; however, evidence from human studies is scarce. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate associations between adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) during pregnancy and childhood overweight and abdominal obesity risk at 4 years of age. Methods We analysed 1827 mother–child pairs from the Spanish ‘Infancia y Medio Ambiente’ cohort study, recruited between 2003 and 2008. Diet was assessed during pregnancy using a food frequency questionnaire and MD adherence by the relative Mediterranean diet score (rMED). Overweight (including obesity) was…