TABLE 1.
Characteristics of mothers and offspring who had information on at least one of the outcomes of interest (wheeze, asthma, atopy, eczema, hay fever, total IgE and lung function) by maternal free sugar intake during pregnancy#
| Free sugar intake g·day−1 | p-value | |||||
|
Quintile 1 (1.6–34.0) |
Quintile 2 (34.0–46.6) |
Quintile 3 (46.6–60.8) |
Quintile 4 (60.8–82.4) |
Quintile 5 (82.4–345.1) |
||
| Mother's age years | 29.4±4.7 | 29.1±4.5 | 29.2±4.6 | 28.9±4.5 | 27.9±4.7 | <0.001 |
| Parity | ||||||
| 0 | 43.2 | 46.1 | 48.6 | 44.9 | 44.0 | 0.001 |
| 1 | 35.4 | 37.2 | 35.1 | 36.3 | 35.9 | |
| ≥2 | 21.4 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 18.8 | 20.0 | |
| Sex of child | ||||||
| Male | 51.2 | 52.3 | 50.5 | 52.3 | 49.5 | 0.39 |
| Female | 48.8 | 47.7 | 49.5 | 47.7 | 50.5 | |
| Multiple pregnancy | ||||||
| Singleton | 97.3 | 96.7 | 98.0 | 98.3 | 97.3 | 0.01 |
| Twin | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 2.7 | |
| Season of birth | ||||||
| Winter | 15.0 | 17.6 | 16.6 | 15.7 | 16.0 | <0.001 |
| Spring | 23.6 | 25.3 | 26.8 | 29.1 | 30.7 | |
| Summer | 33.1 | 29.3 | 31.8 | 28.9 | 27.1 | |
| Autumn | 28.3 | 27.8 | 24.9 | 26.4 | 26.2 | |
| Breastfeeding duration months | ||||||
| Never | 21.3 | 18.9 | 17.5 | 22.1 | 27.1 | <0.001 |
| <3 | 34.0 | 30.0 | 30.1 | 29.2 | 34.2 | |
| 3–6 | 13.1 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.3 | 12.8 | |
| ≥6 | 31.5 | 36.3 | 37.4 | 35.4 | 25.9 | |
| Mother's educational level | ||||||
| Certificate of Secondary Education | 16.7 | 12.9 | 13.4 | 14.5 | 20.4 | <0.001 |
| Vocational | 8.6 | 9.2 | 8.1 | 8.5 | 10.8 | |
| Ordinary level | 36.2 | 35.0 | 32.8 | 35.1 | 38.8 | |
| Advanced level | 24.6 | 26.6 | 26.3 | 26.0 | 21.2 | |
| Degree | 14.0 | 16.2 | 19.4 | 15.9 | 8.9 | |
| Maternal ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 97.8 | 97.2 | 98.5 | 98.4 | 98.8 | 0.003 |
| Non-white | 2.2 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.2 | |
| Housing tenure | ||||||
| Owned/mortgaged | 82.6 | 86.5 | 86.5 | 85.1 | 76.8 | <0.001 |
| Council rented | 9.9 | 7.2 | 6.6 | 8.8 | 15.8 | |
| Non-council rented | 7.5 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 6.1 | 7.5 | |
| Financial difficulties | ||||||
| No | 82.6 | 82.8 | 84.3 | 85.3 | 78.8 | <0.001 |
| Yes | 17.4 | 17.2 | 15.7 | 14.7 | 21.2 | |
| Maternal history of atopic diseases | ||||||
| No | 32.2 | 32.0 | 33.7 | 31.4 | 28.9 | 0.05 |
| Yes | 67.8 | 68.0 | 66.3 | 68.6 | 71.1 | |
| Maternal anxiety score during pregnancy | ||||||
| 0–9 | 24.0 | 23.4 | 23.1 | 20.8 | 14.3 | <0.001 |
| 10–14 | 25.1 | 27.5 | 25.7 | 26.1 | 24.3 | |
| 15–20 | 24.4 | 25.1 | 27.3 | 27.1 | 25.4 | |
| ≥20 | 26.5 | 24.1 | 24.0 | 26.1 | 36.1 | |
| Maximum maternal tobacco exposure cigarettes·day−1 | ||||||
| None | 27.8 | 27.6 | 28.9 | 28.2 | 19.2 | <0.001 |
| Passive only | 45.4 | 48.5 | 47.3 | 46.0 | 42.3 | |
| 1–9 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.1 | |
| 10–19 | 12.5 | 10.1 | 9.4 | 10.1 | 15.2 | |
| ≥20 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 7.7 | 15.2 | |
| Maternal paracetamol use during pregnancy | ||||||
| No | 38.0 | 38.0 | 37.7 | 38.0 | 36.4 | 0.86 |
| Yes | 62.0 | 62.0 | 62.3 | 62.0 | 63.6 | |
| Maternal antibiotic use during pregnancy | ||||||
| No | 83.7 | 85.4 | 84.0 | 83.7 | 82.9 | 0.34 |
| Yes | 16.3 | 14.6 | 16.0 | 16.3 | 17.1 | |
| Maternal supplement use during pregnancy | ||||||
| No | 44.5 | 43.1 | 44.4 | 41.9 | 41.6 | 0.26 |
| Yes | 55.5 | 56.9 | 55.6 | 58.1 | 58.4 | |
| Maternal infections during pregnancy | ||||||
| No | 57.2 | 55.1 | 55.8 | 53.3 | 49.3 | <0.001 |
| Yes | 42.8 | 44.9 | 44.2 | 46.7 | 50.7 | |
| Total energy intake kJ·day−1 | 5567±1376 | 6499±1326 | 7166±1360 | 7931±1488 | 9317±1994 | <0.001 |
| Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI kg·m−2 | ||||||
| <18.50 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 8.1 | <0.001 |
| 18.50–24.99 | 70.8 | 74.3 | 77.7 | 76.7 | 77.4 | |
| 25.00–29.99 | 17.7 | 17.1 | 13.5 | 14.8 | 11.6 | |
| ≥30.00 | 8.8 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 2.9 | |
| Birthweight g | ||||||
| <2500 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 0.02 |
| 2500–2999 | 14.2 | 13.2 | 13.9 | 12.8 | 15.2 | |
| 3000–3499 | 34.8 | 34.9 | 35.1 | 36.7 | 35.6 | |
| 3500–3999 | 32.2 | 33.6 | 33.5 | 33.6 | 33.0 | |
| ≥4000 | 14.7 | 14.4 | 13.8 | 12.6 | 11.0 | |
| Gestational age weeks | 39.4±1.8 | 39.5±1.7 | 39.5±1.7 | 39.5±1.8 | 39.4±1.9 | 0.28 |
| Child's BMI at age 7 years kg·m−2 | ||||||
| <15.00 | 25.8 | 26.3 | 30.3 | 27.7 | 30.7 | <0.001 |
| 15.00–17.49 | 51.9 | 52.3 | 51.2 | 54.4 | 52.6 | |
| 17.50–20.49 | 17.2 | 16.6 | 14.2 | 14.3 | 13.6 | |
| ≥20.50 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.1 | |
| Maternal weight gain during pregnancy | ||||||
| Quartile 1 | 30.3 | 23.7 | 24.5 | 23.5 | 24.5 | <0.001 |
| Quartile 2 | 24.3 | 25.0 | 25.1 | 24.7 | 25.0 | |
| Quartile 3 | 24.2 | 27.0 | 26.3 | 26.4 | 23.4 | |
| Quartile 4 | 21.3 | 24.3 | 24.1 | 25.4 | 27.1 | |
Data are presented as mean±sd or %, unless otherwise stated. BMI: body mass index. #: n=8956.