Saturated fat and dietary cholesterol lower the risk of orofacial clefts

This study was published in the Journal of Nutrition 2004 Nov;134(11):3106-13

Study title and authors:

Maternal nutritional status and the risk for orofacial cleft offspring in humans.

Krapels IP, van Rooij IA, Ocké MC, West CE, van der Horst CM, Steegers-Theunissen RP.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15514283

The study investigated the effects of the mothers preconceptional diet on the risk of orofacial clefts in the offspring. Orofacial clefts are birth defects where mouth or roof of mouth do not form properly. The study included 182 mothers of a child with a orofacial cleft and 173 control mothers.

In regard to preconceptional fat and cholesterol consumption, the study found:
(a) Mothers who had children with an orofacial cleft ate 6.5% less fat than mothers who had children without an orofacial cleft.
(b) Mothers who had children with an orofacial cleft ate 6.0% less saturated fat than mothers who had children without an orofacial cleft.
(c) Mothers who had children with an orofacial cleft ate 8.7% less cholesterol than mothers who had children without an orofacial cleft.

The results of the study suggest that a mothers preconceptional diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol reduces the risk of the offspring been born with an orofacial cleft.