Posted on February 21, 2002 at 8:45 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Iron deficiency during pregnancy, a common worldwide problem in women of childbearing age, can impede the mental and motor development of children, according to researchers from UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham). In a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, the researchers report the association between fetal iron status and development by age five in 278 children.

This is the first study to examine the association between iron status in the developing fetus during pregnancy and mental development, according to Dr. Tsunenobu Tamura, professor of nutrition sciences at UAB and lead author of the study. Other studies have shown low iron levels during infancy and early childhood can have a negative effect on mental and motor development.

“We measured fetal iron status through umbilical cord serum and subjected the children to six tests of mental and psychomotor development,” says Tamura. “Children with low iron status scored lower on every test and had significantly lower language ability, fine-motor skills and tractability than children with higher iron levels.”

The 130 girls and 148 boys in the study were divided into four groups based on umbilical cord iron ferritin, or iron status. All were tested on full-scale IQ, language ability, fine and gross motor skills, attention and tractability. Those in the lowest of the four groups were nearly five times more likely to score poorly in fine motor skills and nearly three times more likely to have poor tractability than the middle two groups.

“It is not known whether iron supplementation early in life could have reversed the poor development we observed,” said Tamura. “Only early iron supplementation intervention trials can answer this question. If the results of such a trial are positive, the prevention of poor mental and psychomotor development by iron supplementation should be a high public health policy priority.”

Tamura also reports that the full-scale IQ in the group with the highest ferritin concentration was slightly lower than the middle two groups and the odds of having an IQ score of less than 70 was higher. Tamura speculates that this could be the result of infection at the end of pregnancy or reflect excessive fetal iron stores.

The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Health Care Policy Research. Collaborators include Dr. Robert L. Goldenberg, Dr. JinRong Hou, Kelley E. Johnston, BS, and Suzanne P. Cliver, BA, department of obstetrics and gynecology; Sharon L. Ramey, Ph.D., professor of psychology, Civitan International Research Center; and Dr. Kathleen Nelson, professor of pediatrics.