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Maternal, Perinatal and Pediatric Nutrition (Poster Session)

(P27-019-25) Maternal Diet Quality During Pregnancy and Child Cognition in US Cohorts

Monday, June 2, 2025
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM ET
Location: Poster Board A-19

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Molly Duncan, MS

    Graduate Student
    Tufts University
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Fang Fang Zhang, MD, PhD

    Associate Professor
    Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University
    Tufts University
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

  • TS

    Tammy M. Scott, PhD

    Assistant Professor
    Tufts University School of Medicine
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

  • TH

    Thomas M. Holland, MD, MS

    Rush University Medical Center
    Chicago, Illinois, United States

Disclosure(s):
Molly Duncan, MS: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.


Objectives: This study aimed at evaluating the role of maternal diet during pregnancy and offspring cognitive functioning during mid childhood.

Methods: The study population consisted of 174 mother-child dyads from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort. Dietary intake data was collected using a food frequency questionnaire. Diet quality during pregnancy was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-P), Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND-P), and Mediterranean Diet (MDS-P) for pregnant women. Offspring cognition was assessed using the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. Cognitive function was assessed using age-adjusted Total Cognition Composite and subscale scores for middle childhood (ages 6-11 years), with fluid subscale scores reflecting a child’s ability to solve novel problems and crystallized subscale scores reflecting knowledge and skills previously acquired through experience. Multivariable linear mixed models were performed to estimate the associations between maternal diet quality and offspring cognitive functioning scores.

Results: The mean (SD) scores for HEI, AHEI-P, MIND-P, and MDS-P were 65.80 (9.56), 76.26 (13.11), 7.23 (1.90), and 66.28 (13.44), respectively. The mean (SD) composite, fluid and crystallized scores during middle childhood were 96.53(17.21), 92.16 (17.86), and 102.53 (15.48), respectively. After adjustment for maternal age, education, household income, marital status, pre-pregnancy BMI, tobacco use during pregnancy, gravidity, delivery method, child’s sex, race and ethnicity, and birth weight, higher AHEI-P (each 5-point increment: β=1.10; 95% CI: 0.15, 2.00) and MIND-P (β=6.55; 95% CI: 0.20, 12.90) were positively associated with middle childhood Total Cognition Composite scores. Higher AHEI-P (β=0.80; 95% CI: 0.02, 1.60), MDS-P (β=0.95; 95% CI: 0.25, 1.65), and MIND-P (β=6.45; 95% CI:1.10, 11.80) were positively associated with crystallized scores. None of the diet scores had a significant association with fluid scores in this sample.

Conclusions: Better maternal diet quality during pregnancy was associated with better cognitive function in middle childhood.

Funding Sources: This research received no external funding.