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Maternal and pediatric nutrition

Relationship of maternal grain intake and serum triglyceride levels with infant birth weight: Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, pages 676–680 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives

Maternal serum triglyceride (TG) level is known to be associated with neonatal birth weight. Although Koreans traditionally consume relatively high amounts of grain and grain products, mainly in the form of white rice, and the consumption is positively associated with serum TG levels, no study has investigated the relationship between dietary grain intake, serum TG levels and neonatal birth weight in pregnant women. This study was conducted to identify the association between infant birth weight and maternal intake of grain, as well as serum TG levels.

Subjects/Methods

Subjects were 1011 pregnant women at 12–28 weeks' gestational age and their offspring. Maternal serum TG levels, dietary intake and infant birth weight were measured.

Results

Serum TG levels were positively related to neonatal birth weight both at mid-pregnancy (P=0.0015) and at late pregnancy (P<0.0001). Such an association only existed in subjects with the highest tertile of grain intake at mid-pregnancy (P=0.0055) but was observed in all tertiles at late pregnancy (1st P=0.0186, 2nd P=0.0146, 3rd P=0.0099).

Conclusions

The relationship between maternal TG levels and infant birth weight may depend on dietary grain intake and stages of pregnancy in Korean pregnant women.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Ministry of Environment and by the Brain Korea 21 Plus project.

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Author notes

  1. J-Y Hwang and H I Choi: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutrition Education Major, Graduate School of Education, Sangmyung University, Seoul, Korea

    J-Y Hwang

  2. Department of Nutritional Science and Food Management, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

    H I Choi, H Kim, W Jang & N Chang

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

    E-H Ha

  4. Environmental Health Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon, Korea

    C Park

Authors
  1. J-Y Hwang
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Correspondence to N Chang.

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Hwang, JY., Choi, H., Kim, H. et al. Relationship of maternal grain intake and serum triglyceride levels with infant birth weight: Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 676–680 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.271

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