Voldoende
vitamine E tijdens zwangerschap tegen longproblemen voor baby.*
Uit een onderzoek onder 1250 vrouwen blijkt dat voldoende inname van vitamine E in de voeding belangrijk is voor zwangere vrouwen om te voorkomen dat de baby moeilijk kan ademhalen of zelfs astma ontwikkelt. Geen enkel andere voedingsnutriënt leek hiervoor verantwoordelijk te zijn. Vooral tijdens de eerste 16 weken van de zwangerschap is voldoende vitamine E in de voeding belangrijk. Vitamine E vindt men vooral in noten, donkere bladgroente, volkoren granen, eieren en vis. Zwangere vrouwen met de minste inname van vitamine E hadden wel 5 keer meer kans op het krijgen van een baby met longproblemen.
Low
Vitamin E in Pregnancy May Boost Baby's Asthma Risk
Preliminary findings also showed a link to poorer lung function
--
Children of mothers who take in too little vitamin E during pregnancy may be at
higher risk for asthma by age five, a new study suggests.
The finding expands on previous research
conducted by the same team. That work found that two-year-old children whose
moms had relatively low vitamin E intake during pregnancy were more prone to
wheezing -- even when they were otherwise healthy.
"This is part of a body of work that
indicates that sufficient vitamin E intake is probably important," said
study lead author Dr. Graham Devereux, of the department of environmental and
occupational medicine at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Devereux and his team reported their
findings in the September issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and
Critical Care Medicine.
The authors focused on over 1,250 women who
were pregnant and attending neo-natal clinics in Scotland between 1997 and 1999.
Maternal dietary intake was assessed dating
back to conception, as were medical histories related to asthma, wheezing and
related respiratory issues. The same information was gathered for the children
of these women up until the age of five.
Maternal intake of nutrients such as
vitamin C, beta-carotene, magnesium, copper, and iron during pregnancy did not
seem to be correlated with an increased risk for wheezing or asthma, the team
found.
However, low intake of vitamin E during
pregnancy was associated with a higher risk among offspring for developing
persistent asthma, beginning during the first two years of life and continuing
to at least until age five.
In fact, children born to mothers rated in
the bottom 20 percent for prenatal vitamin E intake were more than five times
more prone to asthma as children born to mothers in the top 20 percent.
Youngsters born to mothers with relatively
poor vitamin E intake during pregnancy were also at higher risk for developing
persistent wheezing in their first 5 years of life, the Scottish researchers
reported.
The researchers stressed that a child's
diet at age five appears to have no impact on their asthma risk.
They pointed out that fetal airways are
fully developed 16 weeks following conception. That suggests that certain
dietary deficiencies during pregnancy -- particularly early pregnancy -- may
heighten risks for childhood asthma.
However, much more research is needed to
confirm that low prenatal vitamin E helps cause childhood asthma, Devereux said.
For that reason, Devereux said, it is
premature for women to take vitamin E supplements, at any dosage, to help ward
off asthma in their offspring.
Vitamin E is abundant in many staple foods
such as green leafy vegetables, whole grain cereals, vegetable oils, meat, and
fish. The average adult's daily vitamin E needs could be fully met if these
foods were included in a balanced and healthy diet, Devereux said.
"It should be strongly emphasized that
women should eat healthily during pregnancy and not take vitamin E supplements
just because of this study," Devereux cautioned.
Dr. Arun Jeyabalan, an assistant professor
in the division of maternal fetal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh's
Magee Women's Hospital, agreed.
"This is an important study because it
is important to look at associations between nutrient intake, deficiencies, and
potential pregnancy outcomes," she said. "However, women should be
very careful about supplementation. Not all vitamins in high doses are good for
anybody, and further study is needed before advocating any kind of vitamin E
supplementation."
More information
For more on pregnancy and nutrition, visit
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (www.4woman.gov ).
(Sept. 2006)