NIH RESEARCH SUGGESTS FEW PRENATAL SUPPLEMENTS MEET ALL NUTRITION RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PREGNANCY

DURHAM, N.C., April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Approximately 90 percent of pregnant people do not meet nutrition recommendations for pregnancy from diet alone and will need to supplement their diet with prenatal vitamins. At the same time, a majority of affordable prenatal supplements are missing the necessary amounts of at least one key nutrient, according to a new study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program (ECHO) at the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers analyzed the diets of 2,450 pregnant participants from six ECHO cohorts across the United States to determine the amount of key nutrients participants got from their diets and what additional amount they would need from a supplement.

After analyzing over 20,000 dietary supplements, researchers found only one that meets the nutritional recommendations for pregnancy for vitamin A, vitamin D, folic acid, calcium, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids when used to supplement the participants' diets. The monthly cost was too high for some people and it required pregnant people to take seven pills a day. The researchers also identified other lower-cost supplements that provided the right amounts of at least five of the needed key nutrients.

"This research can inform pregnant people and their doctors about key nutrients they may be missing in their diet and help them choose prenatal vitamins that can provide the nutrients they need," said Katherine Sauder, PhD, an ECHO Program investigator at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus.

Dr. Sauder led this collaborative research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Sauder, C. et al. "Selecting a Dietary Supplement with Appropriate Dosing for Six Key Nutrients in Pregnancy." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2022.12.018

About ECHO: ECHO is a nationwide research program supported by the NIH. Launched in 2016, ECHO aims to enhance the health of children for generations to come. ECHO investigators study the effects of a broad range of early environmental influences on child health and development. For more information, visit echochildren.org.

About the NIH: NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information, visit www.nih.gov

SOURCE NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program