Associations of diet and supplement use with birth size in HIVinfected pregnant women

Abstract

Our objective was to examine associations of diet and supplement (supps) use in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy with birth size in 265 HIV‐infected (HIV+) women in PHACS. We administered three 24‐hour multiple pass dietary recalls over 2 weeks. We fit linear regression models to evaluate associations of each nutrient with Z‐scores for birth weight (BWZ) and length (BLZ), adjusted for maternal birth outside US, BMI, and kcal/day. Mean age was 28y; 68% were black, 76% were US‐born, 54% had income < $10,000/yr, mean BMI was 27. Median [IQR] intakes were 2,030 [1551, 2523] kcal/day, 78 [62, 95] g protein, 14 [10, 18] g fiber, 32% [28, 37] calories from fat, and 94% used supps. Many women consumed less than the dietary reference intake (DRI) in pregnancy (diet + supps) for protein (40%), fiber (95%), calcium (41%), vitamin D (57%), folate (13%), iron (14%), N‐3 fatty acids (40%) and other nutrients. Mean BWZ was lower for women with intakes <DRI for calcium (−0.23 [95% confidence interval: −0.47, 0.02]), iron (−0.37 [−0.69, −0.06]), folate (−0.31 [−0.63, 0.01]) and vitamin B6 (−0.35 [−0.74, 0.05]); and mean BLZ was lower for intakes <DRI for calcium (−0.26 [−0.53, 0.01]) and folate (−0.29 [−0.64, 0.06]). Low maternal nutrient intake may impact birth size, but these associations may be confounded by other factors and thus require more investigation. Supported by NICHD.