Maternal dietary fat intake during pregnancy and newborn body composition

Objective: Increased infant birth weight and adiposity are associated with an altered risk of adult chronic diseases. The objective was to investigate the association between maternal dietary fat intake during pregnancy and newborn adiposity. Study design: The study included 79 singleton pregnancies. Associations between maternal dietary fat intake during each trimester and infant adiposity at birth were assessed. Result: Average total grams of maternal total dietary fat and unsaturated fat intake during pregnancy correlated with infant percent body fat after adjusting for potential confounding variables (r = 0.23, p = 0.045; r = 0.24, p = 0.037). Maternal average daily intake of total fat, saturated fat, and unsaturated fat during the second trimester of pregnancy were each associated with infant percent body fat (r = 0.25, p = 0.029; r = 0.23, p = 0.046; r = 0.25, p = 0.031; respectively). Conclusions: The second trimester of pregnancy is a key time period for fetal adipose tissue metabolic programming and therefore a target for nutritional intervention.