Babies born to anaemic mothers have smaller brains, study finds — SkimNews
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- The study, published in Brain Communications, found babies born to mildly anaemic mothers had total brain volumes 4% lower on average, with notable shrinkage in the putamen, caudate nucleus, and corpus callosum — regions tied to processing speed, emotion regulation and executive function.
- Researchers from King's College London and the University of Cape Town followed more than 300 mothers and babies in Cape Town, scanning infant brains from three months to two years.
- The brain-volume gap widened over time: the corpus callosum was 4% smaller at 12 months in the anaemic-mother group but reached a 6% deficit by 24 months.
- Lead author Jessica Ringshaw said earlier research showed comparable differences persist at age six, when they may 'start translating into more noticeable cognitive difficulties' as children enter school.
- More than a third of pregnant women worldwide have anaemia — typically caused by iron deficiency — with rates highest in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia; the study also found higher anaemia rates among women living with HIV.
- Ringshaw called for routine screening for anaemia and iron deficiency during pregnancy, recommending oral or intravenous iron supplementation alongside infection management rather than iron interventions alone.
- The study simultaneously validated cheaper, portable 'low-field' MRI scanners as sensitive enough to detect the same brain differences as traditional hospital machines — a tool lead researcher Steve Williams said enables 'early, sensitive assessment of planned interventions' 'at scale, in some of the most challenging environments.'
Why it matters: With over a third of pregnant women worldwide affected and brain-volume gaps widening from infancy through age six rather than closing, mild maternal anaemia stands as a concrete, measurable contributor to early developmental disadvantage, most acute in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Validating portable MRI scanners as sensitive enough to detect those gaps opens brain monitoring to the resource-limited regions where anaemia rates are highest.
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