ArticleBMJ global health2017
Effects of nutrition interventions during pregnancy on low birth weight: an overview of systematic reviews.
Article in BMJ global health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
72 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 142 citations in OpenAlex.
- Susceptible window identification of the relationship between maternal ozone exposure and preterm birth.International health · 2026Pooled it
- Preconception and periconception interventions to prevent low birth weight, small for gestational age and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2022Pooled it
- The relationship between wasting and stunting in young children: A systematic review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Maternal dietary diversity during pregnancy and risk of low birth weight in newborns: a systematic review.Public health nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Nutrition-specific interventions for preventing and controlling anaemia throughout the life cycle: an overview of systematic reviews.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Dietary Interventions for Healthy Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review of Tools to Promote a Healthy Antenatal Dietary Intake.Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- mHealth interventions targeting pregnancy intakes in low and lower-middle income countries: Systematic review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2019Pooled it
- Women with moderate anaemia prior to conception benefited most from nutrition interventions: a secondary analysis of the Women First preconception maternal nutrition trial.BMJ global health · 2026Trial
- Hemoglobin During Pregnancy Does Not Mediate the Relationship between Nutrition Supplements and Intrauterine Growth: A Secondary Data Analysis of Women First Preconception Nutrition Trial.The Journal of nutrition · 2025Trial
- Effect of nutrition education integrating the health belief model and theory of planned behavior during pregnancy on gestational weight gain and birth weight in Southeast Ethiopia using complex analyses.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Trial
- The Impact of Antenatal Azithromycin and Monthly Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine on Maternal Malaria during Pregnancy and Fetal Growth: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Compliance with and acceptability of two fortified balanced energy protein supplements among pregnant women in rural Nepal.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Trial
- Home consumption of two fortified balanced energy protein supplements by pregnant women in Burkina Faso.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Trial
- Acceptability of 12 fortified balanced energy protein supplements - Insights from Burkina Faso.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Trial
- Effects of guided counseling during pregnancy on birth weight of newborns in West Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.BMC pediatrics · 2020Trial
- A Mediterranean Diet with an Enhanced Consumption of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Pistachios Improves Pregnancy Outcomes in Women Without Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Sub-Analysis of the St. Carlos Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Prevention Study.Annals of nutrition & metabolism · 2019Trial
- Effects of Nutritional Interventions During Pregnancy on Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Prevalence and risk factors of low birth weight in a rural district of Bangladesh: a prospective cohort study.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionLow birth weight (LBW, birth weight less than 2500 g) is associated with infant mortality and childhood morbidity. Poor maternal nutritional status is one of several contributing factors to LBW. We systematically reviewed the evidence for nutrition-specific (addressing the immediate determinants of nutrition) and nutrition-sensitive (addressing the underlying cause of undernutrition) interventions to reduce the risk of LBW and/or its components: preterm birth (PTB) and small-for-gestational age (SGA).
methodsWe conducted a comprehensive literature search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (September 2015). Systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials focusing on nutritional interventions before and during pregnancy to reduce LBW and its components were eligible for inclusion into the overview review. We assessed the methodological quality of the included reviews using
resultsWe included 23 systematic reviews which comprised 34 comparisons. Sixteen reviews were of high methodological quality, six of moderate and only one review of low quality. Six interventions were associated with a decreased risk of LBW: oral supplementation with (1) vitamin A, (2) low-dose calcium, (3) zinc, (4) multiple micronutrients (MMN), nutritional education and provision of preventive antimalarials. MMN and balanced protein/energy supplementation had a positive effect on SGA, while high protein supplementation increased the risk of SGA. High-dose calcium, zinc or long-chain n-3 fatty acid supplementation and nutritional education decreased the risk of PTB.
conclusionImproving women's nutritional status positively affected LBW, SGA and PTB. Based on current evidence, especially MMN supplementation and preventive antimalarial drugs during pregnancy may be considered for policy and practice. However, for most interventions evidence was derived from a small number of trials and/or participants. There is a need to further explore the evidence of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions in order to reach the WHO's goal of a 30% reduction in the global rate of LBW by 2025.
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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.