Maternal vitamin d intake during pregnancy and early childhood wheezing

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 85; no. 3; pp. 853 - 859
• Main Authors: DEVEREUX, Graham, LITONJUA, Augusto A, TURNER, Stephen W, CRAIG, Leone C. A, MCNEILL, Geraldine, MARTINDALE, Sheelagh, HELMS, Peter J, SEATON, Anthony, WEISS, Scott T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Clinical Nutrition 01-03-2007
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Child, Preschool; Diet; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Pregnancy - physiology; Respiratory Sounds - physiopathology; Spirometry; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vitamin D - metabolism; Human; Pregnancy; Lung disease; Vitamin D; Respiratory disease; Bronchus disease; Early; Wheezing; Obstructive pulmonary disease; Child; Asthma; Vitamin D intake
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/85.3.853

Maternal intake of vitamin D in pregnancy is a potentially modifiable but understudied risk factor for the development of asthma in children.
We investigated whether maternal vitamin D intake in pregnancy is associated with decreased risks of wheezing symptoms in young children.
Subjects were from a birth cohort recruited in utero with the primary objective of identifying associations between maternal diet during pregnancy and asthma and allergies in children. A random sample of 2000 healthy pregnant women was recruited while attending antenatal clinics at the Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Scotland, at approximately 12 wk gestation. Maternal vitamin D intake was ascertained from a food-frequency questionnaire completed at 32 wk of gestation. The main outcome measures were wheezing symptoms, spirometry, bronchodilator response, atopic sensitization, and exhaled nitric oxide at 5 y.
Respiratory details through 5 y and maternal food-frequency-questionnaire data were available for 1212 children. In models adjusted for potential confounders, including the children's vitamin D intake, a comparison of the highest and lowest quintiles of maternal total vitamin D intake conferred lower risks for ever wheeze [odds ratio (OR): 0.48; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.91], wheeze in the previous year (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.83), and persistent wheeze (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.98) in 5-y-old children. In addition, lower maternal total vitamin D intakes in pregnancy were also associated with decreased bronchodilator response (P = 0.04). No associations were observed between maternal vitamin D intakes and spirometry or exhaled nitric oxide concentrations.
Increasing maternal vitamin D intakes during pregnancy may decrease the risk of wheeze symptoms in early childhood.