Prenatal dietary diversity may influence underweight in infants in a Ugandan birth-cohort
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Maternal & child nutrition
Abstract
Growth faltering in early childhood is prevalent in many low resource countries. Poor
maternal dietary diversity during pregnancy has been linked with increased risk of
fetal growth failure and adverse birth outcomes but may also influence subsequent
infant growth. Our aim is to assess the role of prenatal maternal dietary diversity in
infant growth in rural Uganda. Data from 3291 women and infant pairs enrolled in a
birth cohort from 2014 to 2016 were analysed (NCT04233944). Maternal diets were
assessed using dietary recall in the second or third trimesters of pregnancy. Maternal
dietary diversity scores (DDS) were calculated using the FAO Minimum Dietary
Diversity for Women (MDD-W). Cox regression models were used to evaluate associations
of the DDS with the incidence of underweight, stunting and wasting in infants
from 3 to 12 months, adjusting for confounding factors. The median DDS for women
was low, at 3.0 (interquartile range 3.0–4.0), relative to the threshold of consuming
five or more food groups daily. Infants of women in highest quartile of DDS (diverse
diets) were less likely to be underweight (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.70, 95% confidence
interval: 0.61, 0.80) compared with infants of women in Quartile 1 (p for trend
<0.001) in models controlling for maternal factors. There was no significant association between DDS and stunting or wasting. Our findings suggest a relationship
between higher maternal dietary diversity and lower risk of underweight in infancy.
These findings suggest that programmes to improve infant growth could additionally
consider strengthening prenatal dietary diversity to improve child outcomes globally.
Description
Keywords
Infant growth, Maternal dietary diversity, MDD-W, Prenatal, Stunting, Uganda, Underweight, Wasting
Citation
Madzorera, I., Ghosh, S., Wang, M., Fawzi, W., Isanaka, S., Hertzmark, E., ... & Duggan, C. (2021). Prenatal dietary diversity may influence underweight in infants in a Ugandan birth‐cohort. Maternal & child nutrition, 17(3), e13127. DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13127