Maternal diet and complementary food diversity on allergy prevention

Abstract

Diet diversity is a term used to define the number of foods or food groups eaten over a certain period. In turn, diet quality describes food patterns and is usually summarised by using diet indices. There are a wide range of dietary and environmental aspects that have been associated with the patho-ethiology of allergic diseases. One of the factors includes nutrition of the pregnant and breast feeding women, infant and child. Studies focusing on the intake of specific nutrients have failed to provide any clear guidance on allergy prevention. Allergen avoidance for the pregnant and breast feeding women is not recommended and timely introduction and consumption of food allergens when infants start to eat is recommended. Nutritional prevention strategies have shifted their focus from single nutrients and foods to addressing the to the overall during pregnancy, breast feeding, and early life. Only one diet index in pregnancy, as a measure of the overall diet, has shown a reduction in childhood allergic disease, referred to as the maternal diet index. Limited data exist to support the role of the Mediterranean diet in pregnancy and offspring respiratory outcomes. There no studies focusing on diet indices in infancy and childhood allergy outcomes. Infant diet diversity and maternal healthy diet diversity during pregnancy has been associated with a reduced prevalence of childhood allergic diseases. There is a need to perform randomised controlled trials using overall dietary intake to support international food allergy guidelines.