WEDNESDAY, Nov. 27, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Adhering to a healthy prenatal diet may reduce patterns of infant growth outside reference ranges, according to a study published online Nov. 21 in JAMA Network Open.

Monique M. Hedderson, Ph.D., from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Pleasanton, and colleagues evaluated the relationship between prenatal dietary quality according to the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and the Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern (EDIP) with infant size at birth and infant growth from birth to age 24 months. The analysis included data from 2,854 birthing parent–child dyads participating in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program between 2007 and 2021.

The researchers found that a high HEI score (>80), indicative of a healthier diet, was associated with lower odds of large for gestational age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.88); rapid growth from birth to age 6 months (aOR, 0.80) and age 24 months (aOR, 0.82); and slow growth from birth to age 6 months (aOR, 0.65), 12 months (aOR, 0.74), and 24 months (OR, 0.65) compared with an HEI score ≤80. A low EDIP score (i.e., ≤63.6), indicative of a less inflammatory diet, was associated with higher odds of large for gestational age and rapid infant growth from birth to age 12 months and lower odds of rapid growth to age 6 months. Small for gestational age was not associated with either HEI or EDIP.

“Our findings support the recommendation of a healthy diet based on the current guidelines (as measured by the HEI) during pregnancy, since it may reduce patterns of infant growth outside reference ranges, which are risk factors associated with obesity,” the authors write.

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