Prospective associations of breastfeeding parents’ postpartum dietary intake with infant gut microbiome at 6 months in the Pregnancy Eating Attributes Study
Abstract
Background: Oligosaccharides in breast milk facilitate colonization of infant gut microbiota that reduce the risk of metabolic disorders. Although diet influences human milk composition, no study to date has examined the association of breastfeeding parents’ dietary intake, exclusively during the postpartum period, with infant gastrointestinal microbiome. Objective: To examine the relationship of postpartum diet quality of the breastfeeding parent, as measured by Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015), with 6-month infant gut microbiota. Design: A secondary data analysis of a prospective pregnancy cohort participating in the Pregnancy Eating Attributes Study in North Carolina. Participants/settings: Of 458 participants enrolled from November 2014 through October 2016, this study included 103 breastfeeding parent-infant dyads. Dietary recalls collected at 4–6 weeks and 23–31 weeks postpartum estimated diet quality. Infants were classified into one of the following groups based on their feeding exposures at 6 months: 1) breastmilk only; 2) breastmilk and solids; 3) breastmilk and formula (with/without solids). Main outcome measures: Infant rectal swabs, collected 23–31 weeks following delivery, were used for deoxyribonucleic acid extraction and sequencing. The paired-end FASTQ files were input into Just A Microbiology System pipeline. Statistical analyses: Multivariate linear models examined relationships between HEI-2015 components and abundances of infant microbial taxa in the…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 458 participants or records.
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