Maternal Diet in Pregnancy Tied to Infant Colic Plus Eczema

Lower maternal diet quality during pregnancy, a more proinflammatory diet, and lower seafood intake were associated with higher odds of infants having both colic and eczema, according to a cohort study published in JAMA Network Open.

Investigators analyzed 1,324 mother-child pairs from Project Viva, a prospective cohort unselected for atopic risk that recruited pregnant women in Eastern Massachusetts from 1999 to 2002. Prenatal diet was assessed with food frequency questionnaires in early and midpregnancy and summarized using the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) and Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), along with intake of commonly allergenic foods. Mothers reported colic symptoms and eczema diagnosis at a median infant age of 6.3 months.

Overall, 11.5% of infants had eczema alone, 20.6% had colic alone, and 4.6% had both. In adjusted models, each 1-point higher MDS was associated with lower odds of combined colic and eczema (odds ratio [OR], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.74-0.98), and each 1-point higher DII was associated with higher odds (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.12-1.61). Each weekly serving of seafood was associated with lower odds of the combined outcome (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.58-0.97). Neither diet score was associated with eczema or colic alone.

Nut intake was associated with slightly higher odds of colic without eczema (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.00-1.09 per weekly serving) but not with the combined outcome, and dairy and egg intakes were not associated with any outcome. Associations between better diet quality and lower colic risk were stronger among infants of mothers with a history of atopy.

The authors noted that outcomes relied on maternal report without validation against medical records, that all mothers had prenatal care and insurance, and that loss to follow-up and residual confounding may have affected the results. They hypothesized that combined colic and eczema may reflect a specific immune endotype of colic and called for studies to replicate the findings.

Source: Oken E, Rifas-Shiman SL, Switkowski KM, Nadeau K, Lightdale JR. Maternal prenatal diet and colic and eczema among infants. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(10):e2638472. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.38472