TY - JOUR
T1 - Maternal long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid status during early pregnancy and children's risk of problem behavior at age 5-6 years
AU - Loomans, Eva M.
AU - van den Bergh, Bea R. H.
AU - Schelling, Maaike
AU - Vrijkotte, Tanja G. M.
AU - van Eijsden, Manon
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - To prospectively investigate the association between maternal long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) status and ratio during pregnancy and children's risk of problem behavior at 5 years of age. Maternal LCPUFA status in plasma phospholipids during pregnancy (M = 13.3, SD = 3 weeks) was available for 4336 women. Children's behavior was rated by their mother (n = 2502) and teacher (n = 2061). When using multivariate logistic regression analyses, we found that greater concentrations of omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (OR 0.75; 95% CI 0.56-0.99; P = .05) decreased children's risk for emotional symptoms. Although lower eicosapentaenoic acid and a greater omega-6:omega-3 LCPUFA (ie, arachidonic acid/[docosahexaenoic acid + eicosapentaenoic acid]) tended to increase the risk for emotional symptoms and the risk of hyperactivity/inattention problems for the omega-6:omega-3 LCPUFA, the results were nonsignificant (P = .07). No evidence was found for mediation by preterm birth and being small for gestational age. The child's sex and infant feeding pattern did not modify the associations. Our results suggest long-term developmental programming influences of maternal LCPUFA status during pregnancy and stress the importance of an adequate and balanced supply of fatty acids in pregnant women for optimal fetal brain development and subsequent long-term behavioral outcomes
AB - To prospectively investigate the association between maternal long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) status and ratio during pregnancy and children's risk of problem behavior at 5 years of age. Maternal LCPUFA status in plasma phospholipids during pregnancy (M = 13.3, SD = 3 weeks) was available for 4336 women. Children's behavior was rated by their mother (n = 2502) and teacher (n = 2061). When using multivariate logistic regression analyses, we found that greater concentrations of omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (OR 0.75; 95% CI 0.56-0.99; P = .05) decreased children's risk for emotional symptoms. Although lower eicosapentaenoic acid and a greater omega-6:omega-3 LCPUFA (ie, arachidonic acid/[docosahexaenoic acid + eicosapentaenoic acid]) tended to increase the risk for emotional symptoms and the risk of hyperactivity/inattention problems for the omega-6:omega-3 LCPUFA, the results were nonsignificant (P = .07). No evidence was found for mediation by preterm birth and being small for gestational age. The child's sex and infant feeding pattern did not modify the associations. Our results suggest long-term developmental programming influences of maternal LCPUFA status during pregnancy and stress the importance of an adequate and balanced supply of fatty acids in pregnant women for optimal fetal brain development and subsequent long-term behavioral outcomes
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.11.069
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.11.069
M3 - Article
C2 - 24439058
SN - 0022-3476
VL - 164
SP - 762
EP - 768
JO - Journal of pediatrics
JF - Journal of pediatrics
IS - 4
ER -