SynthesisNutrition journal2012
Effect of folate intake on health outcomes in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis on birth weight, placental weight and length of gestation.
Synthesis in Nutrition journal, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
67 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Global prevalences of erythropoiesis-associated micronutrient deficiencies (iron, folate, and vitamin BAnnals of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Investigating the causal effect of maternal vitamin B12 and folate levels on offspring birthweight.International journal of epidemiology · 2021Pooled it
- Effect of micronutrient supplements on low-risk pregnancies in high-income countries: a systematic quantitative literature review.Public health nutrition · 2020Pooled it
- Association Between Folate and Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses.Frontiers in public health · 2020Pooled it
- Nutrient intakes and nutritional biomarkers in pregnant adolescents: a systematic review of studies in developed countries.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2016Pooled it
- Efficacy of 4.0 mg versus 0.4 mg Folic Acid Supplementation on the Reproductive Outcomes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- The effect of folic acid supplementation with ferrous sulfate on the linear and ponderal growth of children aged 6-24 months: a randomized controlled trial.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2015Trial
- Prevention of congenital malformations and other adverse pregnancy outcomes with 4.0 mg of folic acid: community-based randomized clinical trial in Italy and the Netherlands.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2014Trial
- Effect modification of prenatal folic acid supplementation on the associations of pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain with offspring birth weight: a large prospective cohort study.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Maternal Nutrition During Pregnancy and Fetal Outcome, Short- and Long-Term Health Effects: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Role of one-carbon metabolism variants in the associations between perfluoroalkyl substances exposure and birth size in the Taiwan Birth Panel Study.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- Health literacy of pregnant women and its association with methyl-group donor intake and folic acid supplementation: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Association between erythrocyte folate and pregnancy: A scientometric analysis.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2025Review
- First-trimester maternal folate and vitamin B12 concentrations and their associations with first-trimester placental growth: the Rotterdam Periconception Cohort.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2025Observational
- Longitudinal assessment of maternal micronutrients (folate and vitamin BEuropean journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Randomized controlled trial of 4.0 mg versus 0.4 mg folic acid supplementation: Follow-up of children at 1 year of age.European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology: X · 2025Article
- International expert consensus on micronutrient supplement use during the early life course.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Placenta-Related Parameters at Delivery in Relation to Folic Acid Supplementation in Different Pregnancies.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The beneficial effect of folic acid supplementation before and shortly after conception is well recognized, whereas the effect of supplementation during the second and third trimesters is controversial and poorly documented. Our aims were to systematically review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effect of folate supplementation on birth weight, placental weight and length of gestation and to assess the dose-response relationship between folate intake (folic acid plus dietary folate) and health outcomes. The MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library CENTRAL databases were searched from inception to February 2010 for RCTs in which folate intake and health outcomes in pregnancy were investigated. We calculated the overall intake-health regression coefficient (β^) by using random-effects meta-analysis on a log(e)-log(e) scale. Data of 10 studies from 8 RCTs were analyzed. We found significant dose-response relationship between folate intake and birth weight (P=0.001), the overall β^ was 0.03 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01, 0.05). This relationship indicated 2% increase in birth weight for every two-fold increase in folate intake. In contrast, we did not find any beneficial effect of folate supplementation on placental weight or on length of gestation. There is a paucity of well-conducted RCTs investigating the effect of folate supplementation on health outcomes in pregnancy. The dose-response methodology outlined in the present systematic review may be useful for designing clinical studies on folate supplementation and for developing recommendations for pregnant women.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.