Lifestyle choices during pregnancy can impact child’s motor development up to the age of 5–6 years

Lifestyle choices during pregnancy have far-reaching effects on the child’s neurodevelopment. A mother-child study conducted at the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital in Finland investigated the long-term effects of maternal risk factors on the child’s motor development at the age of 5–6 years.

The study has been published in the journal Clinical Nutrition ESPEN.

The children were tested for motor performance, including fine and gross motor skills and balance, as well as for possible developmental coordination disorder.

All mothers who participated in the study were overweight or obese based on pregnancy body mass index. The mothers’ body composition was measured using air displacement plethysmography and gestational diabetes was diagnosed with an oral glucose tolerance test.

Dietary intake during pregnancy was assessed with a fish consumption questionnaire, and dietary patterns, which were divided into two categories—healthy and unhealthy, were determined from food diaries.

Of the children who participated in the study, 14% were diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder at the age of 5–6 years. This figure is almost three times higher than the average prevalence of the disorder among the general population of children.

“Our study is the first to examine the developmental coordination disorder in children whose mothers had overweight or obesity during pregnancy,” says Doctoral Researcher Lotta Saros from the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Turku.

The researchers also discovered that children whose mothers had a higher body fat mass or body fat percentage were at higher risk of developmental coordination disorder at the age of 5–6 years.

According to the researchers, the precise measure of the body composition demonstrated this association, while a broader measure based on the body mass index did not. No association was found between gestational diabetes and motor development.

“Based on our findings, it seems that a higher amount of body fat during the mother’s pregnancy is reflected in the child’s poorer motor development,” says Saros.

Healthy diet during pregnancy supports the child’s motor development

The study also found that a healthier maternal diet in early pregnancy was associated with better motor development in the child, especially in gross motor skills at 5–6 years of age. A similar association was found between maternal fish consumption and the child’s fine and gross motor skills.

A healthy diet includes versatile foods, such as vegetables, fruit, rye bread and fish, which provide vitamins and minerals that are important for a child’s development. Fish is also an important source of unsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids, which are needed for fetal brain development.

“It is likely that targeting prenatal nutrition guidance to mothers who are with overweight or obesity before pregnancy would benefit the mothers themselves, for example, by curbing excessive weight gain during pregnancy, while supporting their children’s future motor development,” says Professor Kirsi Laitinen, who leads the Early Nutrition and Health Research Group at the University of Turku.