title: Folate status of mothers during pregnancy and mental and psychomotor development of their children at five years of age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are limited data relating folate nutritional status of mothers during pregnancy to mental and psychomotor development of their offspring. Using an existing data set from a study on the effect of prenatal zinc supplementation on child neurodevelopment, we evaluated the association between folate nutritional status of mothers during pregnancy and neurodevelopment of their children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Maternal blood folate and total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations were measured at 19, 26, and 37 weeks of gestation. At a mean of 5.3 years of age, 355 black children with low-socioeconomic background were given 6 tests: Differential Ability Scales, Visual and Auditory Sequential Memory, Knox Cube Test, Gross Motor Scale, and Grooved Pegboard. The scores of the tests between the 2 groups of mothers with poor versus adequate folate nutritional status classified by blood folate or tHcy concentrations were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences in the test scores of neurodevelopment between the 2 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Folate nutritional status of mothers in the later half of pregnancy assessed by plasma and erythrocyte folate and plasma tHcy concentrations had no impact on neurodevelopment of their children at age 5. It is unknown whether our findings in a low-socioeconomic population can be readily extrapolated to other populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. tamurat@uab.edu
authors.forename: Tsunenobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.forename: Victoria R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Kelley E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Sharon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ramey
authors.forename: Kathleen G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008568:Memory; D011203:Poverty; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D014803:Vitamin B Complex / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015032:Zinc / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D006710:Homocysteine; D014803:Vitamin B Complex; D005492:Folic Acid; D015032:Zinc