Familial intergenerational and maternal aggregation patterns in nutrient intakes in the Lifeways Cross-Generation Cohort Study

Objective: The current study prospectively examines the intra-uterine hypothesis by comparing maternal, paternal and grandparental lineage influences on children's diet and also maternal-child aggregation patterns during pregnancy and early childhood. Design: Prenatal dietary information was available for expectant mothers, fathers and up to four grandparents through a detailed validated semi-quantitative FFQ. At 6-year follow-up, when children averaged 5 years of age, dietary information was re-collected for mothers and a subset of maternal grandmothers using the same FFQ. Child's FFQ version was used for children. Anthropometric and sociodemographic variables were also collected. Settings: Three-generation familial cohort representative of the contemporary Irish national population. Subjects: Children aged 5 years (n 567) and their parents and grandparents. Results: Associations for energy, macronutrient and fibre intakes were compared using Pearson's correlations, intra-class correlations (ICC) and linear regression models, adjusted for energy and potential confounders. Significant, moderate-strength positive correlations were observed for nutrient intakes in children's nuclear families (ICC (range) = 0.22-0.28). The father-child associations (r (range) = 0.13-0.20) were weaker than the mother-child associations (r (range) = 0.14-0.33). In general, associations were stronger for maternal postnatal intake-child intake than for maternal prenatal intake-child intake, except for percentage of energy from fat (adjusted beta = 0.16, 95% CI 0.05, 0.26; P = 0.004), which was stronger for maternal prenatal intake, specifically in non-breast-fed children (adjusted beta = 0.28, 95% CI 0.12, 0.44; P = 0.001). Among all grandparents, correlations were significant only for maternal grandmother-mother pairs (r (range) = 0.10-0.36). Significant positive ICC were observed for nutrient intakes of maternal grandmother-mother-child triads (ICC (range) = 0.12-0.27), not found in paternal lines. Conclusions: These findings suggest that maternal-environment programming influences dietary intake.