SynthesisNutrients2024
Is Oral Iron and Folate Supplementation during Pregnancy Protective against Low Birth Weight and Preterm Birth in Africa? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Nutrients, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Maternal Folic Acid Supplementation and Childhood Metabolic Health: Analyzing Direct and Indirect Effects.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Is Iron Supplementation Associated with Infant Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Does Birth Weight Modify These Associations?Nutrients · 2025Article
- Do Maternal Factors Modify the Associations Between Iron Supplementation and Low Birth Weight in Sub-Saharan Africa?Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite 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.
methodMEDLINE, 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.
resultsIn the qualitative synthesis (
conclusionBoth 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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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.