Associations of maternal dietary iron intake during pregnancy with infant neurodevelopment: evidence from a prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT: Iron, an essential micronutrient, plays a critical role in fetal neurodevelopment. Animal studies have demonstrated that maternal iron-deficient diets during pregnancy induce permanent structural and functional alterations in offspring brains. Dietary iron exists in two forms: heme iron (found in animal-derived foods), which exhibits high bioavailability (15-35%), and non-heme iron (predominantly from plant-based sources), with lower bioavailability (1-20%). Existing epidemiological studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding maternal iron intake and offspring neurodevelopment, and few have examined the effects of different iron forms. This study was conducted in the Jiangsu Birth Cohort, a prospective cohort tracking pregnant women throughout gestation and following up their chi

SUBMITTER: Qin R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12382028 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature