Grant: Operating Grant

Nutrition during pregnancy is important for the health of both mother and child. The goal of this research would be to understand how nutrition and weight gain during pregnancy affect poor pregnancy and infant growth. The research will use the many health measures in a large group of pregnant women in Quebec. To achieve our goal, we would: 1) create a nutrition database using information already collected from 1600 pregnant women who completed three-day food records and related questionnaires; 2) compare nutrition-from food and supplements-and weight gain during pregnancy to relevant Canadian recommendations; and 3) study the role of nutrition in the likelihood of poor pregnancy and infant growth, looking at women with various pre-pregnancy body sizes who gain differing amounts of weight during pregnancy. Data were collected from pregnant women, from spring 2010 to winter 2012, including three-day food records. Poor pregnancy and infant growth outcomes will include low or high birth weight; pre-term birth; catch-up growth and higher weight gain in the first year of life. The population will be described and a Chi-Square test will compare participants using categorical variables. Associations will be examined using logistic regression models. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences. This research will generate knowledge on how following prenatal nutrition and weight gain recommendations impacts child health. This information can be shared with researchers, health professionals and policy makers.