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Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
03:19

Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes

Published on: June 28, 2024

362

Vitamin B12 intake during pregnancy linked to child speech development and intelligence quotient

Eliska Hrezova1, Gabriela Ksinan Jiskrova1, Tomas Prusa2

  • 1RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic.

Journal of Public Health (Oxford, England)
|December 14, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal vitamin B12 intake is linked to better child cognitive development. Higher maternal vitamin B12 intake during pregnancy positively impacts children's language and verbal IQ scores.

Area of Science:

  • Perinatal nutrition
  • Developmental psychology
  • Public health

Background:

  • Maternal nutrient deficiencies during pregnancy can impact offspring development.
  • Vitamin B12 is crucial for fetal development and neurological function.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between prenatal vitamin B12 intake and cognitive development in children.
  • To determine if maternal vitamin B12 levels during pregnancy influence speech, language, and intelligence in offspring.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 5151 mother-child pairs from the Czech ELSPAC study.
  • Dietary intake assessed via food frequency questionnaires during pregnancy.
  • Child cognitive development evaluated through parent-reported speech and language milestones and measured intelligence quotient (IQ) at 8 years.

Main Results:

  • Higher maternal vitamin B12 intake correlated with improved language and talking/understanding scores at 18 months.
  • A positive association was observed between prenatal vitamin B12 intake and verbal IQ scores.
  • While an unadjusted association was found for intelligibility at age 3, it was not significant in the fully adjusted model.

Conclusions:

  • Consistent associations exist between prenatal vitamin B12 intake and enhanced cognitive development in children.
  • Inadequate maternal vitamin B12 during pregnancy may adversely affect children's speech, language, and overall cognitive outcomes.
  • This study highlights the importance of sufficient vitamin B12 for optimal fetal neurodevelopment.
Abstract

Keywords:
childrenepidemiologyfood and nutrition

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