%0 Journal Article
%T Effect of maternal calcium intake during pregnancy on children's blood pressure: A systematic review of the literature
%A Eduardo Bergel
%A Aluisio JD Barros
%J BMC Pediatrics
%D 2007
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2431-7-15
%X A systematic review was performed to identify randomized, quasi-randomized and cohort studies reporting the relationship between offspring blood pressure or incidence of hypertension and levels of maternal dietary calcium intake during pregnancy, either from supplements (i.e. pills) or food. MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library Registry were searched for relevant trials.Two randomized trial and three observational studies were identified and included in this review. In 4 of the 5 studies, loss to follow-up was a serious concern. There was heterogeneity between the studies, particularly those conducted on children below 12 month of age. Results were more consistent among the studies including older children (1 to 9 years) where a higher maternal calcium intake was associated with a reduction of -1.92 mm Hg (95% CI -3.14 to -0.71) in offspring systolic blood pressure. One large randomized trial found a clinically and statistically significant reduction in the incidence of hypertension in 7-year-old children (RR = 0.59, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.90).There is evidence in the literature to support an association between maternal calcium intake during pregnancy and offspring blood pressure. However, more research is needed to confirm these finding given the small sample sizes and the methodological problems in many of the studies conducted so far. More studies on populations with calcium deficit are also needed. If confirmed, these findings could have important public health implications. Calcium supplementation during pregnancy is simple and inexpensive and may be a way to reduce the risk of hypertension and its sequels in the next generation.Increased dietary calcium intake has been associated with lower blood pressure among children, adults and pregnant women [1,2]. The effect seems to be more evident among individuals with low calcium intake [3-6]. Some recent experimental and observational studies in humans and animals have reported an association between maternal calcium
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/7/15