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Association Between Low Dairy Intake During Pregnancy and Risk of Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants

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Abstract

Background Inadequate maternal nutrition is regarded as one of the most important indicators of fetal growth. The aim of this study was to analyze the associated risk of having a small for gestational age (SGA) infant according to the mother’s dairy intake during the first half of pregnancy. Methods A prospective cohort study was performed using 1175 healthy pregnant women selected from the catchment area of Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, Granada (Spain). SGA was defined as neonates weighing less than the 10th percentile, adjusted for gestational age. Factors associated with SGA were analyzed using logistic regression models. Population attributable fractions of SGA according to dairy intake were estimated. Results Dairy intake among women who gave birth to SGA infants was 513.9, versus 590.3 g/day for women with appropriate size for gestational age infants (P = 0.003). An increased intake of dairy products by 100 g/day during the first half of pregnancy decreased the risk of having a SGA infant by 11.0 %, aOR = 0.89 (0.83, 0.96). A dose–response gradient between dairy intake and SGA was observed. Conclusions An inadequate intake of dairy products is associated with a higher risk of SGA. Our results suggest a possible causal relation between dairy intake during pregnancy and the weight of the newborn, although we cannot discard residual confounding. These results should be further supported by properly designed studies.

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Abbreviations

SGA:

Small for gestational age

LGA:

Large for gestational age

AGA:

Appropriate size for gestational age

MET:

Metabolic equivalent of task

aOR:

Adjusted odds ratio

PAF:

Population attributable fraction

DAG:

Directed acyclic graph

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jean Sanders for improving the use of English in the manuscript. The results of this study are part of Ph.D. work of Rocío Olmedo-Requena. The present study was funded by FIS Scientific Research Project PI 03/1207 and Junta de Andalucía Excellence Project 2005 CTS 942, as well as the Biomedical Research Centre Network for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Granada, Avenida de la Investigación, 11, Building A, 8th Floor, 18016, Granada, Spain

    Rocío Olmedo-Requena, Carmen Amezcua-Prieto, Anne-Mary Lewis-Mikhael, Aurora Bueno-Cavanillas & José Juan Jiménez-Moleón

  2. Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Complejo Hospitales Universitarios de Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

    Rocío Olmedo-Requena, Carmen Amezcua-Prieto, Juan de Dios Luna-Del-Castillo, Aurora Bueno-Cavanillas & José Juan Jiménez-Moleón

  3. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain

    Rocío Olmedo-Requena, Carmen Amezcua-Prieto, Juan Mozas-Moreno, Aurora Bueno-Cavanillas & José Juan Jiménez-Moleón

  4. Department of Statistics and Operative Investigation, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Juan de Dios Luna-Del-Castillo

  5. Obstetrics and Gynecology Service, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, Granada, Spain

    Juan Mozas-Moreno

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  1. Rocío Olmedo-Requena
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  2. Carmen Amezcua-Prieto
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Correspondence to Rocío Olmedo-Requena.

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Olmedo-Requena, R., Amezcua-Prieto, C., Luna-Del-Castillo, J.D. et al. Association Between Low Dairy Intake During Pregnancy and Risk of Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants. Matern Child Health J 20, 1296–1304 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-1931-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-1931-2

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