Lifestyle during pregnancy: Neurodevelopmental effects at 5 years of age. The design and implementation of a prospective follow-up study

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of public health 2010-03, Vol.38 (2), p.208-219
• Main Authors: KESMODEL, ULRIK SCHIØLER, UNDERBJERG, METTE, KILBURN, TINA RØNDRUP, BAKKETEIG, LEIV, MORTENSEN, ERIK LYKKE, LANDRØ, NILS INGE, SCHENDEL, DIANA, BERTRAND, JACQUELYN, GROVE, JAKOB, EBRAHIM, SHAHUL, THORSEN, POUL
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Alcohol; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcoholism; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Biological and medical sciences; Caffeine; Child Behavior Disorders - etiology; Child Development; Child, Preschool; Children; Cognition; Cognition Disorders - etiology; Cohort Studies; Denmark; Diet; Drinking patterns; Feeding Behavior; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health; Humans; Intelligence; Life Style; Life styles; Lifestyle; Maternal Exposure - adverse effects; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Neuroscience; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychomotor Performance; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Study design article; Surveys and Questionnaires; Toxicology
• ISSN: 1403-4948; 1651-1905
• DOI: 10.1177/1403494809357093

Background: It has been suggested that even mild exposure to alcohol, caffeine, smoking, and poor diet may have adverse long-term neurodevelopmental effects. In addition, there is evidence that timing of high exposures (e.g. binge drinking) can have particularly negative effects. This paper describes the design and implementation of The Lifestyle During Pregnancy Study addressing major methodological challenges for studies in this field. The study examines the effects of lifestyle during pregnancy on offspring neurodevelopment. Methods: In 2003, we initiated a prospective follow-up of 1750 mother--child pairs, sampled on the basis of maternal alcohol drinking patterns from The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC), a study of 101,042 pregnancies enrolled 1997-2003. Data collection in the DNBC involved four prenatal and postnatal maternal interviews, providing detailed information on maternal alcohol drinking patterns before and during pregnancy, caffeine intake, smoking, diet, and other lifestyle, medical, and sociodemographic factors. Results: At the age of 5 years, the children and their mothers participated in a comprehensive assessment of neurobehavioural development focusing on global cognition, specific cognitive functions, and behaviour. Two new tests assessing attention and speed of information processing among children were developed, and data on important potential confounders such as maternal intelligence quotient, vision, and hearing abilities were collected. Efforts were made to standardise procedures and obtain high inter-rater reliability. Conclusions: We expect that the study will illuminate the significance or lack of significance of maternal lifestyle during pregnancy and contribute to better understanding the effects of alcohol drinking during pregnancy at low to moderate consumption levels.