Gestational Vitamin D Status Could Predict IQ Scores of Child

Mothers' vitamin D levels during pregnancy were linked to their children's IQ, suggesting that higher vitamin D levels in pregnancy could lead to greater childhood IQ scores. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of Nutrition.// Vitamin D is an essential nutrient and has several vital functions in the body. A mother's vitamin D supply is transferred to her baby in utero and helps regulate brain development processes.

Melissa Melough, the study's lead author of the study, says vitamin D deficiency is prevalent among the general population and pregnant women but notes that Black women are at higher risk. Melough states she hopes the study will help health care providers approach disparities among women of color and those at higher risk for vitamin D deficiency.

The researchers used data from a cohort in Tennessee called the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) study. The researchers selected pregnant women to join the study, starting in 2006 and collected data over time about their children's health and development.

Second-trimester maternal 25(OH)D was positively linked to IQ at 4–6 y, suggesting that gestational vitamin D status could be an important predictor of neurocognitive development. These findings may help inform prenatal nutrition recommendations and may be particularly relevant for Black and other dark-skinned women at high risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Melough suggests that additional studies are required to determine the optimal levels of vitamin D in pregnancy but hopes that their report will help to develop nutritional recommendations for pregnant women.

Screening and nutritional supplementation may correct vitamin D deficiency for those at high risk and improve cognitive function in offspring.

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Source-Medindia