A greek study links Mediterranean-style eating during pregnancy and breastfeeding to a lower incidence of food allergies in children, highlighting the notable impact of maternal diet on shaping early immune health.
Mediterranean diet during pregnancy cuts babies’ food allergy risk” width=”2000″ height=”1271″>
Mediterranean diet during pregnancy cuts babies’ food allergy risk
Study: Adherence to Mediterranean Diet During Pregnancy, Breastfeeding, and Progress of Food Allergy in the Offspring: Results From the MEDALLION Cohort Study. T.Vyc / Shutterstock
In a recent study published in the journal allergy, researchers assessed associations between maternal adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) during pregnancy and lactation and the development of food allergy (FA) in the offspring, reporting borderline inverse associations for overall MedDiet adherence in both periods (pregnancy adjusted OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.89-1.00; breastfeeding adjusted OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.88-1.00).
FAs have increasingly become a public health concern over the past decades, with prevention regarded as a promising strategy to decrease the burden of FAs. Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated FA is the most common, with a prevalence of 8%-10% in Western countries. By contrast,its prevalence in developing countries is highly variable.
Urbanized areas in China exhibit rates similar to those in the West,whereas rural regions in Africa and Asia have considerably lower prevalence rates. This suggests that factors such as diet, age, and environment influence the prevalence of FAs.Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation has gained significant attention in this context, given its influence on the fetal immune system.
About the Study
In the present study,researchers evaluated the effects of the MedDiet during pregnancy and lactation on FA development in early life. The Mediterranean Allergy Prevention (MEDALLION) study was a large, retrospective cohort study that followed mothers from six regions in Greece: Athens, Alexandroupoli, crete, Ioannina, Peloponnese, and Thessaloniki. Mothers of infants with FA and those of healthy controls were enrolled.
An interview was conducted post-enrolment to gather facts on demographics, parental history of allergies, siblings’ atopic history, birth weight, gestational age, mode of delivery, and maternal antibiotic use during pregnancy. In addition, information was collected on maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation, smoking habits, complementary feeding practices, antibiotic use, and family history of allergies.
A sub-cohort of mother-child dyads from Athens,ioannina,and Thessaloniki was formed based on the following criteria: exclusive breastfeeding for at least two months and completion of the MedDiet score questionnaire at enrollment. physician-diagnosed FA cases included both IgE- and non-IgE