The British journal of nutrition
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of iron supplementation during pregnancy on the behaviour of children at early school age: long-term follow-up of a randomised controlled trial.
Although routine Fe supplementation in pregnancy is a common practice, its clinical benefits or risks are uncertain. Children born to mothers in the Fe group in a trial of Fe supplementation in pregnancy have been found to have a significantly higher risk of abnormal behaviour at 4 years of age than those born to mothers in the placebo group. The objective of the present study therefore was to determine whether Fe supplementation in pregnancy influences child behaviour at early school age. ⋯ However, the incidence of children with an abnormal teacher-rated peer problems subscale score was higher in the Fe group (eleven of 112 subjects; 8 %) than in the placebo group (three of 113 subjects; 2 %); the relative risk was 3.70 (95 % CI 1.06, 12.91; P = 0.026). We conclude that prenatal Fe supplementation had no consistent effect on child behaviour at early school age in this study population. Further investigation regarding the long-term effects of this common practice is warranted.
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Dietary phytochemicals, of which polyphenols form a considerable part, may affect the risk of obesity-associated chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. This article presents an overview on how phytochemicals, especially polyphenols in fruits, vegetables, berries, beverages and herbal medicines, may modify imbalanced lipid and glucose homeostasis thereby reducing the risk of the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes complications.