Ivanka Orozova-Bekkevold

Major dietary patterns in pregnancy and fetal growth

Objectives:To investigate possible associations between maternal diet during pregnancy and fetal growth.Method:Factor analysis was used to explore dietary patterns among pregnant women. The association between maternal dietary patterns and fetal growth (in terms of small for gestational age, SGA) was investigated by logistic regression. Prospective cohort study, including information on 44 612 women in Denmark.Results:Two major dietary patterns were defined: the first pattern was characterized by red and processed meat, high-fat dairy, and the second pattern was characterized by intake of vegetables, fruits, poultry and fish. Women were classified into three classes according to their diet: the first class had high intake of foods of the first dietary pattern, and was classified as ‘the Western diet’, the second class preferred foods of the second pattern and was classified as the ‘Health Conscious’; and the third one had eaten foods of both patterns, and was classified as the ‘Intermediate’. The odds ratio of having a small for gestational-age infant (with a birth weight below the 2.5th percentile for gestational age and gender) was 0.74 (95% CI 0.64–0.86) for women in the Health Conscious class compared with women in the Western Diet class. The analyses were adjusted for parity, maternal smoking, age, height, pre-pregnancy weight and fathers height.Conclusions:Our results indicated that a diet in pregnancy, based on red and processed meat and high-fat diary, was associated with increased risk for SGA. Further studies are warranted to identify specific macro-, or micronutrients that may be underlying these associations.

Low compliance with recommendations on folic acid use in relation to pregnancy: is there a need for fortification?

OBJECTIVE As a means to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs), women planning pregnancy in Denmark are recommended to take a dietary supplement of 400 microg folic acid daily during the periconceptional period. We examined compliance with this recommendation in a national survey. DESIGN Cohort study on pregnant women in Denmark. SETTING The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC). SUBJECTS From November 2000 to February 2002, 22,000 pregnant women were recruited for DNBC. Use of dietary supplements was recorded at enrollment. Compliance with the recommendation was related to an information campaign that took place during the second half of 2001, and to lifestyle factors provided in a telephone interview by the end of the first trimester of pregnancy. RESULTS An increase was seen in the proportion of women complying with the recommendation in the study period and this coincided with the information campaign events. However, even at the end of the period, only 22.3% of the women who had planned their pregnancy fully complied with the recommendation. No increase at all was seen in periconceptional folic acid use among women with unplanned pregnancies. Young age, low education and smoking were identified as factors that determined non-compliance. CONCLUSIONS Alternative and more effective strategies are needed if the Danish population is to benefit fully from the knowledge that folic acid prevents NTDs. Future strategies should not only target vulnerable groups, such as the less educated and the young, but also women who get pregnant without planning this. The only possible way to reach the last group may be through fortification of foods with folic acid.

Association between fruit and vegetable consumption and birth weight: A prospective study among 43,585 Danish women

Objective: To examine whether fruit and vegetable consumption in pregnancy is associated with birth weight in a Western population. Design: Prospective cohort study based on telephone interviews, a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and extractions of birth characteristics from national health registries. Subjects and setting: The 43,585 Danish women from the Danish National Birth Cohort who had completed the FFQ in mid-pregnancy and on whom information about birth outcome was available. The exposures were frequency of green leafy vegetable (GLV) intake and quantified intake of fruit, fruit and vegetables, and fruit and vegetables and juice. The outcomes were birth weight and z-score for expected birth weight adjusted for sex and gestation week. Information on maternal height, weight, smoking, and other potential confounders was obtained through telephone interviews. Results: Significant associations were found for all exposures to fruit and vegetable intake with birth weight and most with z-score. The strongest association was found for fruit intake in which case birth weight increased by 10.7 g (95% CI 7.3—14.2) per quintile. All associations were stronger among lean women (BMI<20, n=7,169), whose childrens birth weight increased by 14.6 g (95% CI 6.4—22.9) per quintile increase in fruit intake. For GLV the results were more inconclusive. When adjusted for confounders, but not for energy, the association between GLV and birth weight was significant, but the same was not the case for z-score. Conclusion: Fruit and vegetable consumption in pregnancy is positively associated with birth weight in well-nourished Danish women, especially among lean women.

Effective stresses and shear failure pressure from in situ Biot's coefficient, Hejre Field, North Sea

ABSTRACT We propose a combination of Biots equations for effective stress and the expression for shear failure in a rock to obtain an expression for minimum pore pressure in a stable vertical well bore. We show that a Biots coefficient calculated from logging data in the Hejre Field, North Sea, is significantly different from 1. The log‐derived Biots coefficient is above 0.8 in the Shetland Chalk Group and in the Tyne Group, and 0.6–0.8 in the Heno Sandstone Formation. We show that the effective vertical and horizontal stresses obtained using the log‐derived Biots coefficient result in a drilling window for a vertical well larger than if approximating Biots coefficient by 1. The estimation of the Biots coefficient is straightforward in formations with a stiff frame, whereas in formations such as shales, caution has to be taken. We discuss the consequence of assumptions made on the mineral composition of shales as unphysical results could be obtained when choosing inappropriate mineral moduli.