Role of antenatal maternal diet

Nutrition is a modifiable lifestyle factor that may play a role in allergic disease prevention. This article summarizes current evidence on the antenatal diet as a consideration for strategies to prevent child food allergy. As eczema in early infancy substantially increases the risk of food allergy development, the effects of maternal dietary intakes during pregnancy on infant eczema outcomes will also be discussed. This article covers: antenatal food allergen consumption; maternal immunomodulatory nutrient intakes, both as single nutrients and as whole foods; antenatal dietary patterns; maternal obesity, excessive gestational weight gain and neonatal adiposity; and epigenetics.