DIET DURING PREGNANCY AND THE RISK OF CEREBRAL-PALSY

The role of maternal diet in the development of the fetal brain has no t been adequately explored. Marine n-3 fatty acids have, however, been proposed to be important for brain development. The present case-cont rol study aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary intake during pregnancy and the occurrence of cerebral palsy (CP) in the off spring. Children with CP (n 109), born between 1984 and 1988 to mother s residing in the Greater Athens area, were identified at any time in 1991 or 1992 through institutions delivering care and rehabilitation. Successful nutritional interviews were conducted with ninety-one of th ese children. Controls were chosen among the neighbours of the CP case s or were healthy siblings of children with neurological diseases othe r than CP, seen by the same neurologists as the children with CP. A to tal of 278 control children were chosen, and 246 of them were included in the nutritional study. Guardians of all children were interviewed in person on the basis of a questionnaire covering obstetric, perinata l socioeconomic and environmental variables. A validated semiquantitat ive food-frequency questionnaire of ill food items was used to estimat e maternal dietary intake during pregnancy. Statistical analysis was d one by modelling the data through logistic regression. Food groups con trolling for energy intake were alternatively and simultaneously intro duced in a core model containing non-nutritional confounding variables . Consumption of cereals (mostly bread) and fish intake were inversely associated with CP (P < 0.05 and P < 0.09 respectively) whereas consu mption of meat was associated with increased risk (P < 0.02). A protec tive effect of fish consumption and a detrimental effect of meat intak e have been suggested on the basis of earlier work and appear to be bi ologically plausible. If corroborated by other studies, these results could contribute to our understanding of the nutritional influences on fetal brain development.