Research into the developmental origins of health and disease has found that pregnancy is a critical window of exposure where health trajectories begin. Data from both human and animal studies have shown that a prenatal diet, particularly a Mediterranean-style diet, may help mitigate the risk of certain negative health outcomes. The Mediterranean diet is characteristically high in polyphenols and vitamins A, C and E, among many other nutrients.
Overweight before pregnancy begins, as well as excess gestational weight gain during pregnancy, has also been linked to poor child neurodevelopmental outcomes, obesity in childhood, and chronic health problems such as type 2 diabetes later in life for both mother and child.
This particular study was designed to evaluate the connection between mothers-to-be who follow a Mediterranean diet, and maternal and offspring health outcomes during the first decade of life in African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites.
Multivariable linear regression models were used to find links between maternal Mediterranean diet adherence (MDA), inflammatory cytokines, and pregnancy and postnatal outcomes in 929 mother–child dyads from the NEST (Newborn Epigenetics Study), a prospective cohort study. MDA was measured with food frequency questionnaires.
Over 55% of White women reported high MDA during the periconceptional period in comparison with 22% of Hispanic women and 18% of African American women.
Higher MDA was linked to a lower likelihood of depressive mood, pre-pregnancy obesity, lower body size at birth, and was maintained until ages 3-5 and 6-8 years old (most apparent in White children). If these results are mirrored in larger studies, this data suggests that MDA may provide an effective way to help reduce the effects of prenatal stressors and as well as potential ethnic disparities in childhood obesity.