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Maternal prenatal vitamin B12 intake is associated with speech development and mathematical abilities in childhood

Jean Golding1, Steven Gregory1, Rosie Clark1

  • 1Centre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, Bristol, BS8 2BN, United Kingdom.

Nutrition Research (New York, N.Y.)
|February 8, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Maternal vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy is linked to poorer childhood cognitive outcomes. Low prenatal vitamin B12 intake increases risks for speech and math development issues in children.

Area of Science:

  • Nutritional Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Nutrient deficiencies during pregnancy can negatively impact fetal brain development and later cognitive function.
  • The specific impact of prenatal vitamin B12 deficiency on fetal development and childhood cognition remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal dietary intake of vitamin B12 during pregnancy and cognitive outcomes in their children.
  • To test the hypothesis that low prenatal vitamin B12 intake is associated with impaired cognitive development in childhood.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).
  • Conducted a detailed exposome analysis to identify factors associated with low vitamin B12 intake.
  • Analyzed 26 cognitive outcomes, adjusting for 9 identified factors.

Main Results:

  • Children born to mothers with the lowest 10% of vitamin B12 intake showed increased risks for poor vocabulary, word combining abilities, speech intelligibility, and mathematics comprehension.
  • Adverse associations were observed for mathematics comprehension in school years 4 and 6, and national mathematics tests at age 13.
  • No significant associations were found for reading, spelling abilities, or verbal/full-scale IQ at ages 8 and 15.

Conclusions:

  • Confirmed adverse effects of low maternal vitamin B12 intake during pregnancy on specific aspects of child development.
  • Demonstrated that prenatal vitamin B12 deficiency is specifically associated with deficits in certain speech and mathematical abilities.

Keywords:
ALSPACCognitionLongitudinal cohort studyMathematicsPregnancySpeechVitamin B12

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