Dietary Habits and Supplement Use in Relation to National Pregnancy Recommendations: Data from the EuroPrevall Birth Cohort.
Matern Child Health J. 2014 Apr 22. [Epub ahead of print]
Oliver EM1, Grimshaw KE, Schoemaker AA, Keil T, McBride D, Sprikkelman AB, Ragnarsdottir HS, Trendelenburg V, Emmanouil E, Reche M, Fiocchi A, Fiandor A, Stanczyk-Przyluska A, Wilczynski J, Busacca M, Sigurdardottir ST, Dubakiene R, Rudzeviciene O, Vlaxos GD, Beyer K, Roberts G.
1 Clinical and Experimental Sciences Academic Unit, Level F, South Academic Block, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, University of Southampton, Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK, E.Oliver at soton.ac.uk.
Assessing maternal dietary habits across Europe during pregnancy in relation to their national pregnancy recommendations. A collaborative, multi-centre, birth cohort study in nine European countries was conducted as part of European Union funded EuroPrevall project. Standardised baseline questionnaire data included details of food intake, nutritional supplement use, exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy and socio-demographic data. Pregnancy recommendations were collected from all nine countries from the appropriate national organisations. The most commonly taken supplement in pregnancy was folic acid (55.6 % Lithuania-97.8 % Spain) and was favoured by older, well-educated mothers.
Vitamin D supplementation across the cohort was very poor (0.3 % Spain-5.1 % Lithuania).
There were significant differences in foods consumed in different countries during pregnancy e.g. only 2.7 % Dutch mothers avoided eating peanut, while 44.4 % of British mothers avoided it. Some countries have minimal pregnancy recommendations i.e. Lithuania, Poland and Spain while others have similar, very specific recommendations i.e. UK, the Netherlands, Iceland, Greece. Allergy specific recommendations were associated with food avoidance during pregnancy [relative rate (RR) 1.18 95 % CI 0.02-1.37]. Nutritional supplement recommendations were also associated with avoidance (RR 1.08, 1.00-1.16). Maternal dietary habits and the use of dietary supplements during pregnancy vary significantly across Europe and in some instances may be influenced by national recommendations.
PMID: 24752313
See also Vitamin D Life
- WHO still says mistakenly says NO vitamin D during pregnancy, and only 200 IU after
- Vitamin D intervention for 8 weeks of pregnancy: infants taller, heavier and bigger heads – RCT Oct 2013
- Presentation: pre and post natal vitamin D, with audience comments – Manchester UK Sept 2013
- Higher vitamin D in pregnancy resulted in 2X better infant psychomotor and mental scores – Sept 2012 Study was made in Spain
- High maternal vitamin D resulted in 30 percent less infant problems with breathing – Nov 2011 Study was made in Spain
- Overview Pregnancy and vitamin D has the following summary
| IU | Cumulative Benefit | Blood level | Cofactors | Calcium | $*/month |
| 200 | Better bones for mom with 600 mg of Calcium | 6 ng/ml increase | Not needed | No effect | $0.10 |
| 400 | Less Rickets (but not zero with 400 IU) 3X less adolescent Schizophrenia Fewer child seizures | 20-30 ng/ml | Not needed | No effect | $0.20 |
| 2000 | 2X More likely to get pregnant naturally/IVF 2X Fewer dental problems with pregnancy 8X less diabetes 4X fewer C-sections (>37 ng) 4X less preeclampsia (40 ng vs 10 ng) 5X less child asthma 2X fewer language problems age 5 | 42 ng/ml | Desirable | < 750 mg | $1 |
| 4000 | 2X fewer pregnancy complications 2X fewer pre-term births | 49 ng/ml | Should have cofactors | < 750 mg | $3 |
| 6000 | Probable: larger benefits for above items Just enough D for breastfed infant More maternal and infant weight | Should have cofactors | < 750 mg | $4 |