• 1 hour ago

Vitamin D levels during pregnancy linked with child IQ

Nov 05, 2020, 04:30AM ISTSource: ANI

A study published in The Journal of Nutrition showed that mothers' vitamin D levels during pregnancy were associated with their children's IQ, suggesting that higher vitamin D levels in pregnancy may lead to greater childhood IQ scores. The study also identified significantly lower levels of vitamin D levels among Black pregnant women. Melissa Melough, the lead author of the study and research scientist in the Department of Child Health, Behavior, and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute says vitamin D deficiency is common among the general population as well as pregnant women but notes that Black women are at greater risk. Melough says she hopes the study will help health care providers address disparities among women of color and those who are at higher risk for vitamin D deficiency. Addressing disparities according to Melough, as many as 80 per cent of Black pregnant women in the US may be deficient in vitamin D. Of the women who participated in the study, approximately 46 per cent of the mothers were deficient in vitamin D during their pregnancy, and vitamin D levels were lower among Black women compared to White women. Melough and her co-authors used data from a cohort in Tennessee called the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) study. CANDLE researchers recruited pregnant women to join the study starting in 2006 and collected information over time about their children's health and development. After controlling for several other factors related to IQ, higher vitamin D levels in pregnancy were associated with higher IQ in children ages 4 to 6 years old.

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