Prenatal diet tied to colic with eczema

Lower Mediterranean diet adherence, greater dietary inflammation, and lower seafood intake during pregnancy were associated with higher odds of both conditions occurring together in infants.

By
Andrea Surnit
October 15, 2026
4 min

MDSpire News

At a Glance

Category	Detail
Condition	Co-occurrence of infant colic and eczema in relation to maternal prenatal diet
Key Mechanisms	The study assessed maternal diet quality using Mediterranean Diet Scores and Dietary Inflammatory Index values; biological mechanisms were not established.
Target Population	1,324 mother-infant pairs in the Project Viva prospective cohort; infants were assessed at a median age of 6.3 months.
Care Setting	Observational prenatal nutrition and infant health research in a Massachusetts cohort recruited from 1999 to 2002.

Key Highlights

Higher maternal Mediterranean Diet Scores were associated with lower odds of infant colic and eczema occurring together; higher Dietary Inflammatory Index values were associated with higher odds.
Neither dietary score was significantly associated with colic alone or eczema alone.
Each additional weekly serving of maternal seafood was associated with 25% lower odds of the combined outcome.
The combined outcome occurred in 5% of infants; only 61 infants had both conditions, limiting estimate precision.
The observational study cannot establish causality or determine whether prenatal dietary changes could prevent either condition.

Guideline-Based Recommendations

Diagnosis

Colic was identified by maternal reports of sometimes or often having inconsolable crying and distress.
Eczema was based on maternal reports of a clinician diagnosis.

Management

The investigators noted that existing evidence does not support prenatal dietary restrictions to prevent infant allergy.
The study does not establish that changing prenatal diet prevents infant colic or eczema.

Monitoring & Follow-up

Infant outcomes were assessed at a median age of 6.3 months; the study did not provide clinical monitoring recommendations.

Risks

Maternal reports rather than independent medical record verification may have led to outcome misclassification.
Missing dietary or infant outcome information may have introduced selection bias, and residual confounding remained possible.
The cohort's age and participants' access to prenatal care and insurance may limit generalizability.

Patient & Prescribing Data

Pregnant participants in Project Viva and their infants; recruitment was not restricted to families with atopic risk.

No treatment was tested. Higher maternal Mediterranean Diet Scores and seafood intake were associated with lower odds of combined infant colic and eczema, while higher Dietary Inflammatory Index values were associated with higher odds.

Clinical Best Practices

Interpret the reported dietary associations as observational, not causal.
Do not infer from this study that prenatal dietary restrictions prevent infant allergy.
Consider the small number of infants with both outcomes when interpreting estimates.