Vitamin D During Pregnancy Essential for Child Brain Development

Posted by Heartmind Nutrition Tuesday, September 18th, 2012

(Natural Society) Researchers studying almost 2,000 mothers-to-be determined a positive correlation between vitamin D intake during first and second trimesters and the mental and motor abilities of their babies. Children scored higher on the tests if their mothers received adequate levels of vitamin D while pregnant, while a low scores were tied with a vitamin D deficiency. The study was published online in the journal Pediatrics on September 17th. Who thought vitamin D in pregnancy could be so important.
Vitamin D in Pregnancy – Low Vitamin D May Mean Lower IQ

The study, conducted by researchers at the Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, shows that vitamin D levels during pregnancy “might have an important impact at the population level.”

Medical epidemiologist and lead author Dr. Eva Morales adds that mothers deficient in vitamin D during pregnancy could inadvertently cause their children to have lower IQs. The researchers determined that mothers with deficient levels of vitamin D during pregnancy had children who scored on average 2.6 and 2.3 points lower on mental and psychomotor tests, respectively, than children of women with adequate levels of vitamin D. Dr. Morales and her colleagues took other factors—like birth weight, maternal age, social class, the mother’s drinking or smoking habits, and the mother’s education—into consideration for the study.