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Dietary trans fatty acid intake and maternal and infant adiposity

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 1308–1315 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

The fatty acid composition in maternal diet and in breastmilk during lactation may be a factor in the development of childhood overweight later in life. To investigate the association between trans fatty acid and adiposity, 96 mother–infant pairs (exclusive breastfed; mixed fed; and formula fed) at 3 months postpartum were interviewed; body composition was measured onsite using the BOD POD and PEA POD for mothers and infants, respectively.

Subjects/Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were recruited via convenience sampling from Athens-Clarke and surrounding counties of the state of Georgia. Data were analyzed using χ2, analysis of variance and regression.

Results:

There were no significant differences in maternal percent body fat by feeding group (32.70, 33.70, and 35.73%, for exclusive, mixed and formula feeding, respectively). Exclusively breastfed infants had higher percent body fat (24.87%) compared with their mixed-fed counterparts (22.15%) but not formula-fed infants (23.93). Mothers who consumed at least 4.5 g of trans fatty acids/day were 5.8 times more likely to have body fat ⩾30% than those consuming less (odds ratio=5.81; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05, 32.32), and their infants were over two times more likely (odds ratio=2.13; 95% CI, 0.75, 6.01) to have body fat ⩾24%.

Conclusions:

Trans fatty acid content of the maternal diet may be associated with both maternal and infant body composition in the early postpartum period. More research is warranted regarding maternal dietary and breastmilk fatty acid composition and their effects on maternal and infant body composition and the development of childhood overweight later in life.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this project was provided by the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF) through the office of the Vice President for Research. We thank all mother–infant pairs for their participation in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    A K Anderson & D M McDougald

  2. Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    M Steiner-Asiedu

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  1. A K Anderson
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  2. D M McDougald
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Correspondence to A K Anderson.

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Anderson, A., McDougald, D. & Steiner-Asiedu, M. Dietary trans fatty acid intake and maternal and infant adiposity. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 1308–1315 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.166

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