A groundbreaking study from the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) has found a strong association between a mother’s diet during pregnancy and the likelihood of her child developing neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and autism.
The research, conducted at the Danish Paediatric Asthma Centre, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, indicates that a Western-style diet—characterized by high fat, sugar, and refined products with low intake of fish, vegetables, and fruit—correlates with a significantly increased risk of these disorders.
Key Findings
Lead researcher Dr. David Horner, MD, PhD, explained:
“The greater a woman’s adherence to a Western diet during pregnancy, the higher the risk appears to be for her child developing ADHD or autism.”
Using data-driven analysis, the study showed that even moderate shifts toward a Western dietary pattern led to a marked increase in risk. Specifically:
- A 66% higher risk of ADHD
- A 122% higher risk of autism
However, the study also offers hope—small adjustments toward a healthier diet could help reduce these risks, emphasizing the importance of maternal nutrition in early brain development.
Study Details: 60,000+ Mother-Child Pairs Analyzed
The findings are based on dietary patterns, blood samples, and ADHD diagnoses from over 60,000 mother-child pairs across large independent cohorts in Denmark and the United States. Researchers utilized metabolomics, a cutting-edge method to analyze biological markers in blood samples, providing robust validation of their results.
Notably, the connection between a Western dietary pattern and ADHD was consistently observed across all four cohorts and independently verified in three of them using different methodologies. The dataset also included nearly 600 children clinically assessed for neurodevelopmental disorders at age 10. Even after adjusting for genetic and environmental factors, the link between maternal diet and neurodevelopmental risks remained significant.
Implications for Maternal Health
The study, published in Nature Metabolism, underscores the critical role of maternal nutrition in fetal brain development. While genetics play a key role in neurodevelopmental disorders, this research highlights diet as a crucial, modifiable factor.
With growing evidence on the impact of maternal health on childhood outcomes, researchers emphasize the potential for dietary interventions during pregnancy to help reduce the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.