Healthy Diet Impact
High adherence to a healthy prenatal dietary pattern is associated with a 22% reduced likelihood of autism diagnosis in offspring.
Social Communication
A healthy prenatal diet is linked to improved social communication skills in children, particularly at age 8.
Gender Differences
Female offspring may benefit more from a healthy prenatal diet in terms of social communication skills at age 8.
Consistent Findings
Results were consistent across two large cohort studies in Norway (MoBa) and England (ALSPAC).
Graph Explanation
The graph above shows how following a healthy diet during pregnancy is related to certain social and demographic characteristics.
The horizontal axis (x-axis) represents how well mothers stick to a healthy diet (Low, Medium, High). The vertical axis (y-axis) shows the percentage of mothers in each group. There are three smooth lines on the graph, each representing a different characteristic: maternal age (30+ years), higher education, and use of prenatal supplements.
As the adherence to a healthy diet increases from low to high, the graph shows a general increase in all three characteristics. This means that mothers who follow a healthy diet more closely are generally older, better educated, and more likely to take prenatal supplements. The most significant increases are seen in higher education and prenatal supplement use. This suggests that these factors are more strongly connected to a healthy diet during pregnancy.
Overall, the graph highlights how health behaviors and socioeconomic factors are linked in prenatal care.
Content and graph made by the experts at the Health Standard.