The goal of our project is to assess the relationship between maternal nutrition in pregnancy and hypospadias, including associations with key food sources of folic acid and phytoestrogens using data from a 2004 case control study among pregnant women in the UK. Other dietary factors, including the use of different vitamin/mineral supplements, and, as in the earlier ALSPAC study, the role of a vegetarian diet, will also be examined using these data. Since the study was designed for other purposes, the abbreviated food frequency questionnaire which was used consists mainly of food groups instead of specific food items (e.g. questions ask about intakes of fresh green vegetables, dairy products, soy foods). In order to estimate intakes of key nutrients such as dietary folate and selected phytoestogens from the items included in this brief questionnaire, we propose to use external information from the ALSPAC study, which was conducted in a similar population, with more detailed information on intakes of individual food items within these food groups. These data will allow us to identify and rank the food group items on the abbreviated questionnaire as sources of the nutrients of interest, at the population level. We will also use the more detailed external ALSPAC data to examine whether there appear to be meaningful differences in the contribution of food groups to nutrient intakes across different age, ethnic and/or education strata as a result of varying patterns of food item intakes within these food groups. Based on these data, we will determine whether it may be appropriate to develop estimates of nutrient intakes/rankings for particular population subgroups, rather than for the study sample as a whole. Finally, we will use these external ALSPAC data to estimate the proportion of dietary folate and phytoestrogens not covered by the food group items in our abbreviated questionnaire, which was not comprehensive, and to examine the variability in intakes of these omitted items.

Concept: Maternal dietary intakes (food items) during pregnancy

Specific measures: intakes of food items including items from the following food groups:

- Dairy products and eggs

- Soy food

- Beans and peas

- Fruit and vegetables

- Poultry and meat

- Fish and seafood

- Chocolate

- Bread and cereals

- Oil

- Nuts and seeds

Person: Mother

Source: Questionnaire

Time Point: Pregnancy

Other variables:

- Maternal age

- Maternal ethnicity (white, nonwhite)

- Household annual income

- Highest level of maternal education

- Maternal vegetarianism during pregnancy (no, never / yes, in the past / yes, I am now)

- Maternal consumption of organic foods (frequency)

- Maternal Body Mass Index