Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between maternal diet quality and infant weight for length growth trajectory during their first year of life. METHODS: Participants were singleton infant-mother pairs (N = 77) enrolled in the Pregnancy and Postpartum Observational Dietary Study. Mothers completed socio-demographics and dietary (24-hour recalls) assessments at 3 months postpartum. The Alternate Healthy Eating Index (aHEI) was calculated to measure maternal diet quality. Infant weight for length measures from birth to 12 months were abstracted from pediatric records. World Health Organization guidelines were used to calculate infants’ weight for length percentiles. Group-based trajectory analysis was done to identify subgroups of infants with similar growth profiles and to evaluate the association between maternal aHEI and infant's growth trajectory. Models were adjusted for maternal age, race, education and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG). RESULTS: Mothers’ mean age was 28 years ± 5.2; 27% were Latina, and 55% had some college education or more; 60% had experienced excessive GWG; and their average aHEI was 26.7 ± 7.5. Three infant growth trajectories were identified: a low and stable growth group (43.2%), a rapid growth group (33.5%), and a moderate growth group (23.3%). Maternal aHEI was significantly associated with lower odds of having their infant in the rapid growth group (OR = 0.83; P = 0.012), with each unit increase in aHEI score being associated with 17% lower odds of infant's rapid growth. CONCLUSIONS: Trajectory models suggested three patterns of infant growth. Higher maternal diet quality was associated with lower odds of infant rapid growth. Future studies are needed to replicate these findings in larger cohorts and identify mediators of this association to prevent childhood obesity. FUNDING SOURCES: CCTS (UL1TR001453), NCATS (UL1TR000161), NIMHD (1P60MD006912-02), CDC (U48-DP001933), NIGMS (R25GM113686-02), NHLBI (F30HL128012), and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (DFS-140394).