Iron plays a crucial role in neurodevelopment, and an iron deficiency could be a major cause of neurodevelopmental disorder in infants. However, whether the prenatal maternal iron deficiency is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in the offspring is not known. This study aims to determine the association between prenatal maternal anemia and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disability (ID) in offspring.
This cohort study included a total of 532,232 nonadaptive children. The researchers identified the children born to mothers with a registered diagnosis of anemia during pregnancy. The gestational timing of the first-recorded anemia was considered. The primary outcome of the study was registered diagnoses of ASD, and ADHD, and ID in offspring.
The findings suggested that the prevalence of ASD, ADHD, and ID was significantly higher in children born to mothers with prenatal maternal anemia (ASD: 4.9%, ADHD: 9.3%, ID: 1.1%), compared with mothers not diagnosed with prenatal maternal anemia (ASD: 3.5%, ADHD: 7.1%, and ID: 1.3%). The findings further suggested that prenatal maternal anemia diagnosed only in the first 30 weeks of pregnancy was associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.
The research concluded that prenatal maternal anemia diagnosed during the first 30 weeks of pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in the offspring.
Ref: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2751260?resultClick=1
