%0 Journal Article
%T Maternal Dietary Cholesterol and Egg Intake during Pregnancy and Large-for-Gestational-Age Infants: A Prospective Cohort Study.
%A Xue H
%A Qin R
%A Xi Q
%A Xiao S
%A Chen Y
%A Liu Y
%A Xu B
%A Han X
%A Lv H
%A Hu H
%A Hu L
%A Jiang T
%A Jiang Y
%A Ding Y
%A Du J
%A Ma H
%A Lin Y
%A Hu Z
%J J Nutr
%V 154
%N 6
%D 2024 Jun 9
%M 38599384
%F 4.687
%R 10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.04.011
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Cholesterol plays a vital role in fetal growth and development during pregnancy. There remains controversy over whether pregnant females should limit their cholesterol intake.<BR><B>OBJECTIVE: </B>The objective of this study was to investigate the association between maternal dietary cholesterol intake during pregnancy and infant birth weight in a Chinese prospective cohort study.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>A total of 4146 mother-child pairs were included based on the Jiangsu Birth Cohort study. Maternal dietary information was assessed with a semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Birth weight z-scores and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants were converted by the INTERGROWTH-21st neonatal weight-for-gestational-age standard. Poisson regression and generalized estimating equations were employed to examine the relationships between LGA and maternal dietary cholesterol across the entire pregnancy and trimester-specific cholesterol intake, respectively.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>The median intake of maternal total dietary cholesterol during the entire pregnancy was 671.06 mg/d, with eggs being the main source. Maternal total dietary cholesterol and egg-sourced cholesterol were associated with an increase in birth weight z-score, with per standard deviation increase in maternal total and egg-sourced dietary cholesterol being associated with an increase of 0.16 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.07, 0.25] and 0.06 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.09) in birth weight z-score, respectively. Egg-derived cholesterol intake in the first and third trimesters was positively linked to LGA, with an adjusted relative risk of 1.11 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.18) and 1.09 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.18). Compared with mothers consuming ≤7 eggs/wk in the third trimester, the adjusted relative risk for having an LGA newborn was 1.37 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.72) for consuming 8-10 eggs/wk and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.86) for consuming >10 eggs/wk (P-trend = 0.015).<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Maternal total dietary cholesterol intake, as well as consuming over 7 eggs/wk during pregnancy, displayed significant positive relationships with the incidence of LGA, suggesting that mothers should avoid excessive cholesterol intake during pregnancy to prevent adverse birth outcomes.