Is Oral Iron and Folate Supplementation during Pregnancy Protective against Low Birth Weight and Preterm Birth in Africa? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
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Published:2024-08-22
Issue:16
Volume:16
Page:2801
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ISSN:2072-6643
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Container-title:Nutrients
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Nutrients
Author:
Bekele Yibeltal12, Gallagher Claire3ORCID, Batra Mehak1ORCID, Vicendese Don34ORCID, Buultjens Melissa1ORCID, Erbas Bircan1ORCID
Affiliation:
1. School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia 2. School of Public Health, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar 79, Ethiopia 3. School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia 4. School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia
Abstract
Background: Despite recent evidence demonstrating iron and folate supplementation reduces the risk of low birth weight and preterm births, synthesis of the evidence is not sufficient to understand their impacts in Africa. Method: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, Scopus, CHINAL, Web of Science, Cochrane databases, and Google Scholar were searched for the published and grey literature. Either iron-only, folate-only, or iron–folic acid (IFA) oral supplementation during pregnancy was the primary exposure/intervention. The focus of this review was low birth weight and preterm births in the African region. Qualitative synthesis, meta-analysis, and subgroup analysis were employed. Results: In the qualitative synthesis (n = 4), IFA supplementation showed a positive impact on reducing preterm birth. Additionally, the meta-analysis showed that IFA and iron-only supplementation reduced the odds of low birth weight by 63% (OR 0.37; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.48) and 68% (OR 0.32; 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.50), respectively. Conclusion: Both iron-only and IFA supplementation are effective in reducing the risk of low birth weight in Africa. There is also promising evidence suggesting a potential reduction in preterm births. Consequently, further research is needed, particularly targeting high-risk groups such as women residing in rural areas with limited support and low levels of literacy.
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