Study: Healthy Diet During Pregnancy Reduces the Risk of Colic and Eczema in Children

“Previous studies have shown that children who experienced colic are more likely to develop atopic conditions later in life, including asthma, seasonal rhinitis, and food allergies,” said study author Jennifer Lightdale, associate chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Boston Children’s Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. “Our study is the first to examine how prenatal diet may influence the combination of colic and eczema, as infants who experience both conditions may be at the greatest risk of developing various allergic manifestations later in childhood.”

The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Previous studies examining diet and colic have focused on whether changes in breastfeeding mothers’ diets or the composition of infant formula can affect colic symptoms, according to Nauka Rossii. In this study, researchers investigated whether women’s dietary habits during pregnancy were associated with the risk of colic in their children, particularly when accompanied by eczema.

Between April 1999 and November 2002, researchers recruited 1,300 pregnant women from maternity hospitals in eastern Massachusetts. Participants regularly completed dietary questionnaires, which the researchers assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) and the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII).

A higher MDS indicated a healthier diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and healthy fats, with moderate amounts of dairy products and lean protein. A higher DII score indicated a less healthy, more pro-inflammatory diet containing greater amounts of red or processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, sodium, and refined grains. Participants also reported their consumption of common allergenic foods, including peanuts, peanut butter and other nuts, fish and shellfish, eggs, and dairy products.

The researchers found that 26% of the infants included in the study experienced colic, while 5% had both colic and eczema. Children whose mothers followed a Mediterranean diet had a significantly lower risk of developing both conditions: each additional point on the MDS was associated with a 15% reduction in risk. In contrast, each additional point on the DII was associated with a 34% increase in risk.

When examining foods commonly associated with allergies, the researchers found that each additional weekly serving of seafood consumed by a pregnant woman was associated with a 25% reduction in the likelihood that her child would develop both colic and eczema. Other common allergens, including dairy products, eggs, and nuts, were not associated with the two conditions in children.

According to the researchers, all the associations identified in the study were most pronounced among infants whose mothers had a history of allergic diseases.

“Our findings provide another reason to help pregnant women adopt a healthy, balanced diet that emphasizes seafood,” said the study’s first author, Emily Oken, a professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Mothers want to do everything they can for their children, but they often face financial and other barriers to healthy eating. We hope our research will be useful not only to individuals and families, but also to programs and services that support women’s health and nutrition.”