LOW MATERNAL FOLATE LEVELS LINKED TO HYPERACTIVITY
Low maternal folate levels have been linked with an increased risk of the development of attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity in children in a study, conducted by Dr Wolff Schlotz and colleagues from the University of Southampton in England. It included children of 100 mothers who took part in an earlier study of prenatal nutrition and fetal growth. The authors discovered that folate deficiency during gestation can impair cellular growth and reduce fetal brain cells. These effects could contribute to behavioral difficulties later in life. The study is possibly the first in humans to link maternal folate with children's behavioral outcomes. "Our findings further support the hypothesis that maternal nutrition contributes to an individual's development, with potential consequences for their behavior later in life," Dr Schlotz concluded. The study was published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.