Maternal Dietary Carbohydrate Intake and Newborn Aortic Wall Thickness

Nutrients. 2021 Apr 20;13(4):1382. doi: 10.3390/nu13041382.

Abstract

Evidence from animal models indicates that maternal diet during pregnancy affects offspring cardiometabolic health. Improving carbohydrate quality during high-risk pregnancies reduces aortic intima-medial thickness; a marker for early atherosclerosis; in the infant offspring. We sought to determine whether maternal carbohydrate quantity and quality are associated with newborn aortic intima-medial thickness in healthy pregnancies. Maternal diet throughout pregnancy was evaluated in 139 mother-child dyads using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Carbohydrate intake was expressed as quantity (% total energy), quality (fibre, glycaemic index), and glycaemic burden (glycaemic load). Aortic intima-medial thickness was measured by high-frequency ultrasound of the neonatal abdominal aorta. Neither quantity nor quality of maternal carbohydrate intake during pregnancy was associated with meaningful differences in offspring maximum aortic intima-medial thickness with the exception of fibre intake in women with overweight or obesity which was inversely associated (-8 μm [95% CI -14, -1] per g fibre, p = 0.04). In healthy pregnancy, the quantity and quality of maternal carbohydrate intake is likely not a meaningful modifiable lifestyle factor for influencing offspring vascular health. The effect of carbohydrate quality may only be evident in high-risk pregnancies, consistent with previous findings. These findings may be confirmed in prospective dietary trials in pregnancy.

Keywords: aortic intima-media thickness; cardiovascular disease; maternal diet.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aorta / anatomy & histology*
  • Aorta / drug effects
  • Carotid Intima-Media Thickness
  • Dietary Carbohydrates / pharmacology*
  • Eating*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena*
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Regression Analysis

Substances

  • Dietary Carbohydrates