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The associations between maternal and child diet quality and child ADHD – findings from a large Norwegian pregnancy cohort study
The objective of this 2021 study was to find any links between the quality of mothers’ diets during pregnancy, child diet quality, child ADHD symptoms, and ADHD diagnosis. Maternal diet quality was checked at around mid-gestation, while the kids were assessed on their diet quality at 3 years old. Their ADHD symptoms at age 8 were also reported using the Parent Rating Scale. ADHD was diagnosed in 2.9% of 77,768 children, while the average ADHD symptoms score among the 37,787 subjects was 8.4. The researchers found a notable relationship between maternal diet quality and ADHD symptoms: decreases in ADHD symptom scores correlated with increases in mothers’ diet index scores. Moreover, an increase in one of the maternal diet quality indices by one standard deviation was associated with a 13% reduction in risk of ADHD diagnosis. However, no reliable relationships could be identified between the Ultra-Processed Food Index and ADHD diagnosis. In conclusion, overall maternal diet during pregnancy relates to a small decrease in ADHD symptom score at 8 years and lower incidence of ADHD diagnosis. Furthermore, eating ultra-processed foods during pregnancy correlated with increased ADHD symptom score. However, one should not draw conclusions of causality of ADHD since there are potentially factors that have not been considered. [NPID: ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Norway, Norwegian, diet, diet quality, child, mother, maternal, pregnancy, pregnant, gestation, gestational, diagnosis, ultra-processed foods, processed, unhealthy]
Year: 2021
