Women who take folic acid before conception, are much less likely to give birth to children with insufficient weight for gestational age, according to the Internet publication for girls and women aged 14 to 35 Pannochka. net These are the conclusions of British researchers published recently in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
According to the data of British scientists, children with insufficient for gestational age (small for gestational age, SGA) by weight are included in the lower 10% of all children appearing in the world.
Insufficient weight is usually caused by a violation of fetal development, including intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), when the fetus does not get enough oxygen and nutrients to develop.
At birth, SGA causes a lot of complications, including an insufficient level of oxygen, polycythemia, low sugar, etc.. Studies have shown that in later life, SGA is associated with a risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and mental illness.
Folic acid (vitamin BC) is already recommended for women of childbearing age, because a deficiency of this vitamin can cause a severe neural tube defect in children - spina bifida. Experts from the American Pregnancy Association say that before conception and during pregnancy, a woman should consume 400 ?g of folic acid daily.
The authors of the latest scientific work from the University of Birmingham, led by Dr. Khaled Ismail (Khaled Ismail) decided to test the relationship between taking folic acid and the risk of giving birth to children with underweight.
The risk of SGA is lowest among women who took folic acid before conception.
Analyzing data from the British regional database of patients, the researchers identified 108 525 pregnancies with available information on folic acid intake.
Almost 85% of women took folic acid during pregnancy. Data on the date of onset of vitamin intake were available in 39,416 cases. Of these 39,000 women, 10,036 (25.5%) started taking the drug before conception. In general, 19.3% of children were born with insufficient body weight; 7% of them were in the lower 5% by weight.
The results of the study showed that the highest birth rate of children with SGA in the group that did not take folic acid before conception and during pregnancy. And 8.9% of these children were in the lower 5% by weight.
Among women who started taking folic acid before conception, the percentage of children with underweight was 9.9% (lower 10%) and 4.8% (lower 5% by weight). These data confirm that folic acid before conception significantly reduces the risk of SGA.
In his commentary, Dr. Ismail writes: "Increased intake of folic acid can have a positive impact on public health, given the connection with SGA. New strategies for the use of folic acid are very important for improving the health of mother and child ".
The editor of BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, John Thorpe adds that the results of the work of scientists are especially important given the insufficient knowledge of the SGA.
medbe. en.