Table IV.
Association between maternal intake of vegetables and low intake of processed meats and deep fried foods during pregnancy, infant breastfeeding vs formula feeding, infant solid food introduction, and the infant intestinal microbiome
| Maternal diet (PC 1) during pregnancy | |||||
| Low (n = 129) | High (n = 151) | Unadjusted β (95% CI) | β adjusted for demographic variables* (95% CI) | β adjusted for demographic and dietary variables† (95% CI) | |
| Shannon index | 2.09 (0.43) | 2.30 (0.42) | 0.08 (0.05, 0.11) P < .001 | 0.02 (−0.02, 0.05) P = .40 | −0.0002 (−0.04, 0.04) P = .99 |
| Richness | 28.83 (7.34) | 34.01 (7.20) | 1.56 (1.05, 2.06) P < .001 | 0.13 (−0.50, 0.76) P = .68 | 0.11 (−0.58, 0.70) P = .71 |
| Bacteroides | 4 (0–225) | 14 (0–147) | −0.19 (−0.35, −0.02) P = .03 | 0.07 (−0.18, 0.32) P = .60 | 0.04 (−0.22, 0.30) P = .77 |
| Bifidobacterium | 71 (17–153) | 58 (14–126) | 0.01 (−0.09, 0.10) P = .88 | −0.04 (−0.17, 0.09) P = .55 | −0.01 (−0.15, 0.13) P = .89 |
| Lactobacillus | 0 (0–5) | 0 (0–1) | −0.04 (−0.33, 0.26) P = .81 | −0.03 (−0.40, 0.35) P = .89 | 0.48 (0.06, 0.90) P = .02 |
| Clostridium | 2 (0–17) | 1 (0–8) | −0.15 (−0.29, −0.01) P = .03 | −0.10 (−0.28, 0.08) P = .28 | −0.05 (−0.25, 0.16) P = .65 |
| Breastfeeding vs formula feeding | |||||
| Formula fed (n = 169) | Breastfed (n = 95) | Unadjusted β (95% CI) | β adjusted for demographic variables* (95% CI) | β adjusted for demographic and dietary variables‡ (95% CI) | |
| Shannon Index | 2.37 (0.36) | 1.92 (0.42) | −0.46 (−0.55, −0.36) P < .001 | −0.36 (−048, −0.24) P < .001 | −0.37 (0.49, −0.26) P < .001 |
| Richness | 34.8 (6.40) | 26.5 (7.13) | −8.38 (−10.06, −6.69) P < .001 | −5.86 (−7.89, −3.82) P < .001 | −5.95 (−8.02, −3.87) P < .001 |
| Bacteroides | 13 (0–122) | 3 (0–389) | 0.60 (0.03, 1.18) P = .04 | 0.009 (−0.85, 0.87) P = .98 | 0.04 (−0.83, 0.91) P = .93 |
| Bifidobacterium | 56 (10–118) | 93 (23–171) | 0.26 (−0.09, 0.61) P = .14 | 0.51 (0.08, 0.94) P = .02 | 0.53 (0.08, 0.98) P = .02 |
| Lactobacillus | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–26) | 2.11 (1.16, 3.06) P < .001 | 3.87 (2.72, 5.02) P < .001 | 4.28 (3.06, 5.51) P < .001 |
| Clostridium | 2 (0–8) | 2 (0–18) | 0.59 (0.05, 1.13) P = .03 | 0.75 (0.01, 1.50) P = .05 | 0.86 (0.13, 1.61) P = .02 |
| Solid food introduction | |||||
| No solids introduced (n = 161) | Solids introduced (n = 113) | Unadjusted β (95% CI) | β adjusted for demographic variables* (95% CI) | β adjusted for demographic and dietary variables§ (95% CI) | |
| Shannon Index | 2.14 (0.43) | 2.30 (0.43) | 0.16 (0.06, 0.27) P = .002 | 0.13 (0.004, 0.25) P = .06 | 0.10 (−0.02, 0.22) P = .11 |
| Richness | 30.5 (7.40) | 33.5 (7.72) | 3.10 (1.27, 4.92) P = .001 | 2.20 (−0.04, 4.44) P = .05 | 1.70 (−0.46, 3.85) P = .12 |
| Bacteroides | 7 (0–219) | 15 (0–157) | −0.10 (−0.65, 0.46) P = .74 | −0.13 (−0.87, 0.61) P = .73 | −0.07 (−0.83, 0.69) P = .86 |
| Bifidobacterium | 66 (15–142) | 66 (14–134) | 0.02 (−0.31, 0.36) P = .89 | −0.04 (−0.49, 0.41) P = .86 | −0.001 (−0.45, 0.45) p = 1.00 |
| Lactobacillus | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–1) | −0.02 (−0.99, 0.94) P = .96 | −0.13 (−1.50, 1.23) P = .84 | 0.63 (−0.62, 1.88) P = .32 |
| Clostridium | 2 (0–9) | 2 (0–11) | −0.03 (−0.55, 0.50) P = .92 | 0.80 (0.06,1.55) P = .03 | 0.75 (0.004, 1.49) P = .05 |
Significant (P <.05) results are in bold.
The PC 1 of maternal diet during pregnancy was dichotomized at its mean for comparisons of low and high groups, and used as a continuous variable in regression models.
Mean, SD for normally distributed variables (Shannon index, Richness).
Median, 25%−75% range for count data.
Linear regression was used in analyses of Shannon Index, and richness and negative binomial regression was used in analysis of bacterial counts. β coefficients of bacterial counts represent a difference in the log count, formula fed is reference.
The Shannon index is a measure of diversity that accounts both for number of species present and for how evenly distributed bacterial counts are across the species that are present.
Demographic variables: treatment, mode of delivery, age, maternal education, and race/ethnicity of child.
Dietary variables: infant breastfeeding vs formula feeding and infant solid food.
Dietary variables: infant solid food and first principal component of maternal diet (high in vegetables and low in processed meats and deep fried foods).
Dietary variables: infant breastfeeding vs formula feeding and first principal component of maternal diet (high in vegetables and low in processed meats and deep fried foods).