*4.3. Strengths and Limitations*

This is the first human study to demonstrate that low gestational consumption of fruits and vegetables affects the infant gut microbiome. Our data support previous findings from animal studies [11]. Moreover, instead of using a food frequency questionnaire, we used 3-day dietary records to obtain details regarding nutritional intake, thus enabling us to investigate the correlations between gestational nutrition and the abundance of infant gut microbiome taxa.

Our study has some limitations. The generalizability of our findings may be limited by our relatively small sample size. However, the identification of three unhealthy infant gut microbial taxa in the low vegetable/fruit consumption group agrees with the data obtained from other studies conducted in Asian countries [45,46]. Moreover, we were unable to collect samples for evaluating the infant gut microbiome and SCFA at multiple time points. Larger and longer studies that better account for antenatal and postnatal nutritional exposure factors are warranted, to elucidate the detailed mechanisms linking gestational nutritional exposure to early allergic diseases or other chronic diseases.
