By Julie Steenhuysen:
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Children in rural
Nepal whose mothers were given iron and folic acid supplements during pregnancy
were smarter, more organized and had better fine motor skills than children
whose mothers did not get them, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
They said ensuring that pregnant women get this basic prenatal care could
have a big effect on the educational
futures of children who live in poor communities where iron deficiency is
common.
"Iron is essential for the development of the central nervous system," said
Parul Christian, an expert in international health at the Johns Hopkins
University Bloomberg School of Public Health, whose study appears in the Journal
of the American Medical Association.
Iron deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the
world, affecting 2 billion people, according to the World Health Organization.
Early iron deficiency can interfere with nerve development, biochemistry and
metabolism, hampering both intellectual and fine motor development.
Christian's team studied 676 school-age children whose mothers had been in a
clinical trial in which some got iron and folic acid supplements and other
nutrients while they were pregnant. About 80 percent of the children -- aged 7
to 9 -- were enrolled in school.
"We had the opportunity to follow the offspring of women who had participated
in a randomized trial of iron and folic acid and other micronutrients to assess
neurocognitive function and outcomes," Christian said in a telephone interview.
"What we showed is prenatal iron and folic acid supplementation had a
significant impact on the offspring's intellectual level and motor ability and
ability during school age, which was a very exciting finding," she said.
"It had an impact across a range of function, including intellectual
function, executive function and fine motor function," factors that could affect
a child's later academic success, Christian said.
She said many children in poor communities would benefit from better prenatal
programs that include the low-cost nutritional supplements.
"These results speak to a large swath of people residing in that part of the
world. Iron and folic acid deficiency are very common," she said.
The World Health Organization estimates that in developing countries, every
other pregnant woman is anemic and about 40 percent of preschool children are
anemic.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
