American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on October 22, 2008
American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 168(12):1374-1380; doi:10.1093/aje/kwn258
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ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Maternal Calcium Intake During Pregnancy and Blood Pressure in the Offspring at Age 3 Years: A Follow-up Analysis of the Project Viva Cohort
Correspondence to Rachel Bakker, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands (e-mail: rachel.bakker{at}erasmusmc.nl).
Received for publication March 31, 2008. Accepted for publication July 25, 2008.
A previous analysis of the Project Viva cohort (eastern Massachusetts, 1999–2002 recruitment) found an association between higher second-trimester supplemental maternal calcium intake and lower systolic blood pressure in offspring at 6 months. The authors analyzed 5,527 systolic blood pressure measurements from 1,173 mother-child pairs from this same cohort when the children were aged 3 years. They estimated the change in offspring blood pressure for a 500-mg difference in maternal total, dietary-only, and supplemental-only calcium intake during the first 2 trimesters of pregnancy. Mean daily total calcium intake was 1,311 mg (standard deviation, 421) in the first trimester and 1,440 mg (standard deviation, 386) in the second trimester. Mean systolic blood pressure of the offspring at age 3 years was 92.1 mm Hg (standard deviation, 10.3). None of the maternal calcium intake measures during the first and second trimesters was associated with systolic blood pressure in the offspring. For example, for each 500-mg increment in maternal total elemental calcium intake in the second trimester, child's 3-year systolic blood pressure was 0.1 mm Hg lower (95% confidence interval: –0.9, 0.6). Maternal calcium intake during pregnancy was not associated with offspring blood pressure at the age of 3 years.
blood pressure; calcium; cardiovascular diseases; child; pregnancy
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; FFQ, food frequency questionnaire; SD, standard deviation