Effect of a Nutrient-Rich, Food-Based Supplement Given to Rural Vietnamese Mothers Prior to or during Pregnancy on the Trajectories of Nutrient Biomarkers

Abstract

Nutrient interventions initiated after conception tend to have modest effects on maternal nutritional status and pregnancy outcomes. Thus, we compared the association between micronutrient intakes and the trajectories of their biomarkers before and during pregnancy. Data from a randomized trial of the effect of a nutrient-rich, food-based supplement given to 317 Vietnamese women prior to or during pregnancy on birth outcomes were used to assess nutrient intakes with biomarker trajectories of zinc, iron, folate, cobalamin, and vitamin A using linear mixed regression models. The circulating plasma or serum trajectories of all five micronutrients were associated to their baseline levels (p < 0.0001). Plasma zinc trajectories were also related to farm work (p = 0.024). Cobalamin and vitamin A trajectories were associated with gestational weight gain (p = 0.003 and p = −0.037, respectively). In this population of rural Vietnamese women, nutrient intakes during pregnancy did not affect biomarker trajectories. The primary determinant of each nutrient biomarker trajectory was its respective baseline level prior to conception.