CONTEXT It is unclear how in utero vitamin D deficiency affects the extraskeletal health of children, despite the known risks for adverse pregnancy/birth outcomes. OBJECTIVE This systematic review seeks to assess the effect of in utero vitamin D exposure on childhood allergy and infection outcomes using the PRISMA guidelines. DATA SOURCES MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched. STUDY SELECTION Literature published through April 2015 was searched for studies reporting on the association between maternal pregnancy or cord blood vitamin D status and childhood allergy and infection. DATA EXTRACTION Of 4175 articles identified, 43 studies met the inclusion criteria. They examined a wide variety of outcomes, using many different vitamin D cutoff values in their analyses. DATA SYNTHESIS For most outcomes, results were inconsistent, although there appeared to be a protective effect between higher in utero vitamin D status and childhood lower respiratory tract infection (5 of 10 studies). CONCLUSIONS More research is needed on childhood allergy and infection outcomes, and future studies should standardize outcome reporting, especially with regard to cutoff values for vitamin D concentrations. Evidence of a protective association between in utero vitamin D exposure and lower respiratory tract infection was found, while the other outcomes were either understudied or showed inconsistent results.PROSPERO registration no. CRD42013006156.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Asymptomatic diverticulosis is commonly attributed to constipation caused by a low-fiber diet, although evidence for this mechanism is limited. We examined the associations between constipation and low dietary fiber intake with risk of asymptomatic diverticulosis.METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study that analyzed data from 539 individuals with diverticulosis and 1569 without (controls). Participants underwent colonoscopy and assessment of diet, physical activity, and bowel habits. Our analysis was limited to participants with no knowledge of their diverticular disease to reduce the risk of biased responses.RESULTS: Constipation was not associated with an increased risk of diverticulosis. Participants with less frequent bowel movements (<7/wk) had reduced odds of diverticulosis compared with those with regular bowel movements (7/wk) (odds ratio [OR], 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40-0.80). Those reporting hard stools also had reduced odds (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.55-1.02). There was no association between diverticulosis and straining (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.59-1.22) or incomplete bowel movement (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.61-1.20). We found no association between dietary fiber intake and diverticulosis (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.71-1.30) in comparing the highest quartile with the lowest (mean intake, 25 vs 8 g/day).CONCLUSIONS: In our cross-sectional, colonoscopy-based study, neither constipation nor a low-fiber diet was associated with an increased risk of diverticulosis.