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RESEARCH PRODUCT

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

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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 defined as an age-specific and sex-specific body mass index ≥85th percentile (World Health Organization referent), and abdominal obesity as a waist circumference (WC) >90th percentile. Multivariate adjusted linear and logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between pregnancy rMED and offspring overweight and abdominal obesity. Result There was no association between rMED and body mass index z-score, whereas there was a significant association between higher adherence to MD and lower WC (β of high vs. low rMED: −0.62 cm; 95% confidence interval: −1.10, −0.14 cm, P for trend = 0.009). Conclusion Pregnancy adherence to the MD was not associated with childhood overweight risk, but it was associated with lower WC, a marker of abdominal obesity.