Maternal Dietary Fat Intake and the Risk of Congenital Heart Defects in Offspring

BACKGROUND: Fatty acids are crucial in embryologic development, including cardiogenesis. The impact of maternal periconceptional dietary fat intake on the risk of congenital heart defects (CHDs) has not been clearly elucidated. We hypothesized that maternal dietary fat intake during pregnancy is associated with risk of CHDs in offspring. METHODS: We analyzed CHD cases and non-malformed controls from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a case-control, multicenter population-based study of birth defects. We used multivariable logistic regression to analyze the association between maternal periconceptional dietary fat intake and occurrence of CHDs. RESULTS: We examined 11,393 infants with CHDs (cases) and 11,029 infants without birth defects (controls). Multivariable analysis of maternal dietary fat intake adjusted for maternal energy intake demonstrated modest change in risk for 2 of the 25 CHDs analyzed; otherwise there was no association. Maternal dietary fat intake unadjusted for total energy was associated with increased risk for several CHDs. CONCLUSION: After adjusting for total energy intake, maternal periconceptional dietary fat intake has a modest association with risk of a few specific CHDs. If maternal dietary fat intake does impact CHD risk, the effect is minimal.