BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Little is currently known about the relationship between the parental diet during pregnancy and the growth of the child from early childhood until early adulthood. This study was designed to examine whether the dietary patterns of the parents during a pregnancy and of the respective child at 3 years are associated with the length/height-for-age z-score of child at birth, 3 years of age and at 19 years of age. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Dietary patterns of pregnant women and their partners, and offspring at 3 years that were enroled in the 1990-1991 period in the Czech part of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. Multivariable linear regression models were used to estimate the relationship between the dietary patterns of parents (835 child-mother-father trios) during pregnancy and the length/height-for-age z-score of their offspring at birth, 3 years and 19 years. RESULTS: The maternal health-conscious food pattern was found to predict lower child height at 3 years, but not at birth nor at 19 years of age. An increase in the health-conscious pattern score of the maternal diet was associated with significantly lower height-for-age z-score at 3 years; however, the observed effect lost its significance after the adjustment for diet of the child at 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: After full adjustment, the only significant predictors of the height-for-age z-score of the child at 3 years were the heights of both parents and maternal education. More research into the association of maternal diet in pregnancy and height of child is necessary.

Department of Pathological Physiology Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University College London London UK

See more in PubMed

Epidemiology. 2005 Mar;16(2):175-81 PubMed

J Physiol Anthropol. 2013 Nov 01;32:19 PubMed

Br J Nutr. 2008 Nov;100(5):1069-76 PubMed

Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 Oct;102(4):873-80 PubMed

Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Mar;103(3):794-800 PubMed

Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 1989 Oct;3(4):460-9 PubMed

BMC Public Health. 2009 Dec 01;9:439 PubMed

Curr Opin Lipidol. 2002 Feb;13(1):3-9 PubMed

Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2013 Jun;91(6):412-20 PubMed

J Health Popul Nutr. 2011 Aug;29(4):327-38 PubMed

J Epidemiol Community Health. 2005 Jun;59(6):467-72 PubMed

Acta Med Okayama. 1999 Aug;53(4):149-69 PubMed

Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2001 Jan;15(1):74-87 PubMed

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 12;8(7):e67671 PubMed

Int J Epidemiol. 2012 Oct;41(5):1419-33 PubMed

Public Health Nutr. 2001 Oct;4(5):999-1003 PubMed

Reprod Biomed Online. 2006 May;12(5):532-41 PubMed

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Nov;215(5):609.e1-609.e8 PubMed

BMJ. 1997 Nov 22;315(7119):1342-8 PubMed

Proc Nutr Soc. 1998 Feb;57(1):105-11 PubMed

BMJ. 1997 Sep 27;315(7111):786-90 PubMed

Eur J Epidemiol. 2014 Feb;29(2):111-8 PubMed

Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):869-76 PubMed

Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Oct;104(4):1128-1136 PubMed

Lancet. 2005 Mar 12-18;365(9463):955-62 PubMed

Association of Picky Eating with Weight and Height-The European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC-CZ)

Birth weight rather than birth length is associated with childhood behavioural problems in a Czech ELSPAC cohort

Dietary pattern longitudinality during 8 years in children: results from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC-CZ)

Estimated dietary iodine intake as a predictor of placental size: evidence from the ELSPAC study