Prenatal micronutrient supplementation, particularly iron/folic acid supplementation, was positively associated wtih aspects of intellectual functioning including working memory, inhibitory control, and fine motor functioning among offspring.
Prenatal micronutrient supplementation and intellectual and motor function in early school-aged children in Nepal.
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Key Findings
Abstract
CONTEXT: Iron and zinc are important for the development of both intellectual and motor skills. Few studies have examined whether iron and zinc supplementation during gestation, a critical period of central nervous system development, affects children's later functioning. OBJECTIVE: To examine intellectual and motor functioning of children whose mothers received micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cohort follow-up of 676 children aged 7 to 9 years in June 2007-April 2009 who had been born to women in 4 of 5 groups of a community-based, double-blind, randomized controlled trial of prenatal micronutrient supplementation between 1999 and 2001 in rural Nepal. Study children were also in the placebo group of a subsequent preschool iron and zinc supplementation trial. INTERVENTIONS: Women whose children were followed up had been randomly assigned to receive daily iron/folic acid, iron/folic acid/zinc, or multiple micronutrients containing these plus 11 other micronutrients, all with vitamin A, vs a control group of vitamin A alone from early pregnancy through 3 months postpartum. These children did not receive additional micronutrient supplementation other than biannual vitamin A supplementation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Children's intellectual functioning, assessed using the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT); tests of executive function, including go/no-go, the Stroop test, and backward digit span; and motor function, assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) and finger-tapping test. RESULTS: The difference across outcomes was significant (Bonferroni-adjusted P
Affiliation
Center for Human Nutrition, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe St, Room W2041, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. [email protected]
External References
- PubMed ID:
- 21177506
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