Dairy food, calcium and vitamin D intake in pregnancy, and wheeze and eczema in infants

Abstract

The present prospective study examined the association between maternal consumption of dairy products, calcium, and vitamin D during pregnancy and the risk of wheeze and eczema in the infants aged 16–24 months.

Subjects were 763 Japanese mother–child pairs. Data on maternal intake during pregnancy were assessed with a diet history questionnaire. Symptoms of wheeze and eczema were based on criteria of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood.

Higher maternal intake of total dairy products, milk, cheese and calcium during pregnancy was significantly related to a decreased risk of infantile wheeze, but not eczema (adjusted ORs (95% CI) between extreme quartiles were 0.45 (0.25−0.79), 0.50 (0.28−0.87), 0.51 (0.31−0.85), and 0.57 (0.32−0.99), respectively). When maternal vitamin D consumption during pregnancy was categorised into two groups using a cut-off point at the 25th percentile, children whose mothers had consumed ≥4.309 μg·day⁻¹ had a significantly reduced risk of wheeze and eczema (adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 0.64 (0.43−0.97) and 0.63 (0.41−0.98), respectively).

Higher consumption of calcium and dairy foods other than yoghurt during pregnancy may reduce the risk of infantile wheeze. Higher vitamin D intake during pregnancy may be protective against childhood wheeze and eczema.