Jun 16, 2008 | View All Issues
A new issue of Maternal and Infant Nutrition Briefs is now available. This newsletter is written by Dr. Lucia Kaiser, Community Nutrition Specialist at UC Davis. Highlights of the current issue are: Prenatal Weight Gain and Risk of Overweight in Children Excessive prenatal weight gain, in relation to the IOM guidelines, increases the risk of overweight in the offspring at three years of age. Other findings from this study suggest that the current IOM guidelines may need to be re-visited and possibly revised, particularly in populations where maternal obesity is prevalent. Source: Oken E, Taveras EM, Kleinman KP, Rich-Edwards JW, Gillman MW. Gestational weight gain and child adiposity at age 3 years. Am J Obstet & Gynecol 2007; 196: 322.e1-322.e8 How Much Caffeine is Safe for Pregnant Women? In this randomized controlled trial, reducing caffeine intake in pregnant women to levels well below 300 mg daily does not appear to improve birth weight or length of gestation, except in women who smoke. Since the intervention took place after 18 weeks of gestation, the effects of reducing caffeine intake either pre-conception or during the first few weeks remain to be determined. Source: Bech BH, Obel C, Henriksen TB, Olsen J. Effect of reducing caffeine intake on birth weight and length of gestation: randomized controlled trial. BMJ 2007: 334: 409 Available at http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/7590/409 Folate Status Worsens in US Women of Childbearing Age Folic intake is low, and folate status in US women of childbearing age appears to be deteriorating. The reasons for this trend are not clear and need to be determined. The impact on incidence of neural tube defects also needs to be examined. Sources: Yang Q, Carter HK, Mulinare J, Berry RJ, Friedman JM, Erickson JD. Race-ethnicity differences in folic acid intake in women of childbearing age in the United States after folic acid fortification: findings from the National Health and NutrDownload (PDF)