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Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation During Pregnancy on Maternal, Birth, Child Health and Development Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Nutrients
January 1, 1970
Christina Oh et al. (3 authors)
Journal ArticleMeta-AnalysisSystematic ReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to evaluate the effects of Vitamin A supplementation on maternal, birth, child health, and developmental outcomes compared to placebo or no treatment.

Results Summary

The study found that Vitamin A supplementation improved retinol concentration in children, but no significant effects were noted on mortality outcomes or other key health indicators.

Population

Pregnant women and children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (16)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation
decrease
preterm birth
women
-
showed improvement
#1
multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation
decrease
small-for-gestational age (SGA)
women
-
showed improvement
#2
multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation
decrease
low birthweight
women
-
showed improvement
#3
multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation
decrease
diarrhea incidence
child
-
improved
#4
multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation
increase
retinol concentration
child
-
improved
#5
micronutrient supplementation
no change
maternal mortality
women
little to no effect
had little to no effect
#6
micronutrient supplementation
no change
neonatal mortality
women
little to no effect
had little to no effect
#7
micronutrient supplementation
no change
perinatal mortality
women
little to no effect
had little to no effect
#8
micronutrient supplementation
no change
infant mortality
women
little to no effect
had little to no effect
#9
iron-folic (IFA) supplementation
decrease
maternal anemia
women
-
showed notable improvement
#10
iron-folic (IFA) supplementation
decrease
low birthweight
women
-
showed notable improvement
#11
lipid-based nutrient supplementation (LNS)
no change
outcomes
women
no apparent effect
had no apparent effect
#12
calcium supplementation
decrease
pre-eclampsia/eclampsia
women
-
improvements were noted
#13
iron supplementation
decrease
maternal anemia
women
-
improvements were noted
#14
vitamin D supplementation
decrease
preterm births
women
-
improvements were noted
#15
zinc supplementation
increase
maternal serum zinc concentration
women
-
improvements were noted
#16
Abstract

Almost two billion people are deficient in key vitamins and minerals, mostly women and children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Deficiencies worsen during pregnancy due to increased energy and nutritional demands, causing adverse outcomes in mother and child, but could be mitigated by interventions like micronutrient supplementation. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that aimed to compile evidence from both efficacy and effectiveness trials, evaluating different supplementation interventions on maternal, birth, child health, and developmental outcomes. We evaluated randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies published since 1995 in peer-reviewed and grey literature that assessed the effects of calcium, vitamin A, iron, vitamin D, and zinc supplementation compared to placebo/no treatment; iron-folic (IFA) supplementation compared to folic acid only; multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation compared to IFA; and lipid-based nutrient supplementation (LNS) compared to MMN supplementation. Seventy-two studies, which collectively involved 314 papers (451,723 women), were included. Meta-analyses showed improvement in several key birth outcomes, such as preterm birth, small-for-gestational age (SGA) and low birthweight with MMN supplementation, compared to IFA. MMN also improved child outcomes, including diarrhea incidence and retinol concentration, which are findings not previously reported. Across all comparisons, micronutrient supplementation had little to no effect on mortality (maternal, neonatal, perinatal, and infant) outcomes, which is consistent with other systematic reviews. IFA supplementation showed notable improvement in maternal anemia and the reduction in low birthweight, whereas LNS supplementation had no apparent effect on outcomes; further research that compares LNS and MMN supplementation could help understand differences with these commodities. For single micronutrient supplementation, improvements were noted in only a few outcomes, mainly pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (calcium), maternal anemia (iron), preterm births (vitamin D), and maternal serum zinc concentration (zinc). These findings highlight that micronutrient-specific supplementation should be tailored to specific groups or needs for maximum benefit. In addition, they further contribute to the ongoing discourse of choosing antenatal MMN over IFA as the standard of care in LMICs.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
AnemiaChildChild DevelopmentChild, PreschoolDeveloping CountriesDietary SupplementsFemaleHumansIncomeInfantMaternal Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaMicronutrientsMineralsPoverty AreasPre-EclampsiaPregnancyPregnancy ComplicationsPregnancy OutcomePremature BirthRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicVitamins
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy65/10
Quality85/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations122
Citations/Year24.4
Relative Citation Ratio11.11
NIH Percentile98.2%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.95
Weight Score2.05
Normalized Score0.63
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