Cited by 186Nutritional Studies and DietBirth, Development, and HealthChild Nutrition and Water Access

The importance of maternal diet quality during pregnancy on cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Borge, Tiril Cecilie, Aase, Heidi, Brantsæter, Anne Lise, Biele, Guido·2017·BMJ Open

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review and meta-analysis provides a quantitative summary of the literature exploring the relationship between maternal diet quality during pregnancy and child cognitive and affective outcomes. We investigate whether there are indications for robust associations and aim to identify methodological strengths and challenges of the current research to provide suggestions of improvement for future research. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: Relevant studies were identified through a systematic literature search in relevant databases. All studies investigating maternal diet quality during pregnancy in relation to child cognitive or affective functioning in children of elementary school age or younger were assessed for inclusion. RESULTS: 18 relevant studies, comprising 63 861 participants were identified. The results indicated a small positive association between better maternal diet quality during pregnancy and child functioning. We observed publication bias and significant heterogeneity between studies, where type of diet classification, publication year and outcome domain together accounted for about 30% of this heterogeneity. Trim and fill analysis substantiated the presence of publication bias for studies in the affective domain and showed an adjusted effect size of Hedge's g=0.088 (p=0.0018) (unadjusted g=0.093 (p=0.03)). We observed no publication bias in the cognitive domain, where results indicated a slightly larger effect size (g=0.14 (p<0.0001)) compared with that of the affective domain. The overall summary effect size was g=0.075 (p<0.0001) adjusted for publication bias (unadjusted g=0.112 (p=0.0001)). Child diet was not systematically controlled for in the majority of the studies. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that a better maternal diet quality during pregnancy has a small positive association with child neurodevelopment, with more reliable results seen for cognitive development. These results warrant further research on the association between maternal diet quality during pregnancy and cognitive and affective aspects of child neurodevelopment, whereby it is crucial that future studies account for child diet in the analysis.

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  1. [77]Rothman KJ Epidemiology: an introduction. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2002.
  2. [94]Williams KT, Wang J Technical references to the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test- Third Edition (PPVT-III. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service, 1997.

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Authors
Borge, T. C., Aase, H., Brantsæter, A. L., & Biele, G.
Affiliations
Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NO)
Corresponding author
Borge, Tiril Cecilie
Venue
BMJ Open
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2017-09
Volume
7
Issue
9
Pages
e016777
ISSN
2044-6055 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2758182105
Cited by
186
References
85
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 10
FWCI
2.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • BMJ Open (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • BIBSYS Brage (BIBSYS (Norway)) (acceptedVersion)
  • NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
Funders
NevSom; National Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Hypersomnia - ADHD, Autism, Tourette’s syndrome and Hypersomnia
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
Keywords
maternal diet quality, pregnancy, child cognitive development, child neurodevelopment, maternal nutrition, publication bias, children's diet, diet classification
MeSH terms
Affect, Child, Child Development, Cognition, Diet, Female, Humans, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Outcome, Publication Bias, Food Quality

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