No association between long-chain n-3 fatty acid intake during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring in two large Scandinavian pregnancy cohorts

Nicolai A Lund-Blix; Anne A Bjerregaard; German Tapia; Ketil Størdal; Anne Lise Brantsæter; Marin Strøm; Thorhallur I Halldorsson; Charlotta Granstrøm; Jannet Svensson; Geir Joner; Torild Skrivarhaug; Pål R Njølstad; Sjurdur F Olsen; Lars C Stene

doi:10.1007/s00125-024-06125-4

No association between long-chain n-3 fatty acid intake during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring in two large Scandinavian pregnancy cohorts

Diabetologia. 2024 Jun;67(6):1023-1028. doi: 10.1007/s00125-024-06125-4. Epub 2024 Mar 19.

Authors

Nicolai A Lund-Blix¹, Anne A Bjerregaard^{2

3}, German Tapia¹, Ketil Størdal^{1

4

5}, Anne Lise Brantsæter¹, Marin Strøm^{2

6}, Thorhallur I Halldorsson^{2

7}, Charlotta Granstrøm², Jannet Svensson^{8

9}, Geir Joner^{4

5}, Torild Skrivarhaug^{4

5}, Pål R Njølstad^{10

11}, Sjurdur F Olsen^{2

6

12

13}, Lars C Stene¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
² Department of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³ Centre for Clinical Research and Prevention, Copenhagen University Hospitals - Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Division of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Division of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ University of the Faroe Islands, Torshavn, Faroe Islands.
⁷ Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
⁸ Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
⁹ Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁰ Mohn Research Center for Diabetes Precision Medicine, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
¹¹ Children and Youth Clinic, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
¹² Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹³ Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
¹⁴ Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. lars.christian.stene@fhi.no.

Abstract

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to investigate whether higher dietary intake of marine n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of type 1 diabetes in children.

Methods: The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) together include 153,843 mother-child pairs with prospectively collected data on eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake during pregnancy from validated food frequency questionnaires. Type 1 diabetes diagnosis in children (n=634) was ascertained from national diabetes registries.

Results: There was no association between the sum of EPA and DHA intake during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring (pooled HR per g/day of intake: 1.00, 95% CI 0.88, 1.14), with consistent results for both the MoBa and the DNBC. Robustness analyses gave very similar results.

Conclusions/interpretation: Initiation of a trial of EPA and DHA during pregnancy to prevent type 1 diabetes in offspring should not be prioritised.

Keywords: Child health; Cohort studies; Human; Intrauterine nutrition; Maternal and child health; Nutrition; Pregnancy; Type 1 diabetes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adult
Child
Cohort Studies
Denmark / epidemiology
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1* / epidemiology
Docosahexaenoic Acids / administration & dosage
Eicosapentaenoic Acid / administration & dosage
Fatty Acids, Omega-3* / administration & dosage
Female
Humans
Male
Norway / epidemiology
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / epidemiology
Risk Factors

Substances

Fatty Acids, Omega-3
Docosahexaenoic Acids
Eicosapentaenoic Acid

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding