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Aim: Adequate vitamin B12 levels in infancy are crucial for normal psychomotor and cognitive development of infants. Our aim was to examine serum vitamin B12, folate and ferritin levels in exclusively breastfed healthy full‐term infants (age group: 1–6 months), and also investigate their correlation with maternal markers. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted on 100 exclusively breastfed healthy full‐term infants (age group: 1–6 months) along with their lactating mothers. Serum vitamin B12, folate and ferritin levels were determined for each mother–infant dyad using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The mean serum vitamin B12, folate and ferritin levels were 512 vs. 535 pg/mL, 15 vs. 12 ng/mL and 313 vs. 114 ng/mL in infants and mothers, respectively. Among 100 infants, 26 (26%) had lower vitamin B12 levels and 5 (5%) had inadequate folate levels. In addition, 22 (22%) of 100 lactating mothers were deficient in vitamin B12 levels and 14 (14%) had inadequate folate levels. We found a statistically significant positive correlation between infant and maternal vitamin B12 (r = 0.659, P < 0.001) and folate levels (r = 0.51, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Vitamin B12 deficiency was observed in 26% of infants and 22% of lactating mothers. Vitamin B12 and folate levels of infants were positively correlated with maternal levels in the state of Punjab, North‐West India. Our findings support that maternal vitamin B12 status can be used as a valuable predictor of infant vitamin B12 status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many education and health programs aim to improve early childhood development, it is challenging to assess developmental levels of infants and small children through large household surveys. The Caregiver Reported EarlyDevelopment Instruments (CREDI) has been proposed as an adaptable, practical, and low-cost instrument for measuring the developmental status of children under 3 years of age at scale, as it is relatively short and collected by caregiver report. This study employed the CREDI tomeasure the development of a sample of 994 children ages 22-35 months in rural India and compared the results to those obtained using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-III), a reliable and widely used instrument, albeit one not always suited to large-scale data collection efforts given its length, cost, and complexity of administration. The CREDI validation exercise showed that caregivers can provide assessments in keeping with the more interactive (hence more time-consuming and training-intensive) Bayley-III instrument. Noteworthy, therewas no indication that concordance of the instruments differed by education of the caregiver. This is important as it points to alternate feasible tools to measure child development outcomes through large-scale surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cluster randomized trial design was used to test the efficacy of a behaviour change communication intervention on the quality of the home environment and infant development at 15 months of age. Children (n = 600) in rural South India were followed from 3 through 15 months of age. The control group (C group) received the standard of care, the complementary feeding group (CF group) received recommendations on complementary foods and the responsive complementary feeding and play group (RCF&P group) received recommendations on complementary foods plus skills on responsive feeding and play. The intervention was delivered in biweekly home visits to caregivers using flip charts. At postintervention, infants (n = 521) were assessed for development (Bayley‐II scales) and their home environment was assessed (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment [HOME] scale). Cluster adjusted analysis of variance showed no significant differences at baseline. The HOME score at 15 months differed by group, F(2, 38) = 6.41, P = 0.004; the CF and RCF&P groups had higher scores than the C group. Scores on subscales 'Opportunities for Variety in Daily Stimulation' and 'Caregiver Promotion of Child Development' (CPCD) were higher for the RCF&P group than for the C and CF groups. Mental development index (MDI) scores differed by group, F(2, 37) = 3.31, P = 0.04, with the RCF&P group showing higher scores than the C group (P < 0.04); no differences were noted in psychomotor development index (PDI) scores (P = 0.48). The subscales of HOME associated with MDI at 15 months were 'CPCD' and 'Cleanliness of Child' (R2 = 0.076). 'CPCD' was also associated with PDI (R2 = 0.039). A responsive complementary feeding and play intervention delivered through home visits benefitted children's mental development and caregiving environment at 15 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal nutritional status during pregnancy impacts fetal brain development. Vitamin B12 plays a vital role in neuronal development. However, findings from studies on the association between maternal B12 status and child cognitive functions have been inconsistent. We performed a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of oral B12 supplementation (50 µg) beginning at <14 weeks of gestation through a 6-week post-partum. In the present study, we report the effects of maternal B12 supplementation on cognitive development in infants at 9 months of age on Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III (BSID-III). One hundred eighty-three pregnant women received vitamin B12, and 183 received placebo. Nine-month BSID-III development score was available in 178 infants. There were no significant differences in maternal sociodemographic characteristics and baseline biochemical measures between infants who underwent BSID-III evaluation and infants who were not evaluated. There were no significant differences in any of the subscales of BSID-III between infants born to mothers who received B12 supplementation ( n = 78) vs. placebo ( n = 100). On multiple regression analysis, elevated maternal total homocysteine (tHcy) levels adjusted for treatment group, birthweight, parity, income and home environment at second trimester of pregnancy were significantly negatively associated with expressive language (β = 3.13 points, P < 0.001), and in third trimester of pregnancy with expressive language (β = −2.29 points, P < 0.001) and fine motor (β = −1.41 points, P = 0.005) domains of BSID-III. While no significant effects of maternal B12 supplementation were seen on cognitive development in infants at 9 months of age, elevated maternal tHcy levels were associated with poorer cognitive performance in some of the subdomains of BSID-III. In pregnant women with elevated tHcy levels and or B12 deficiencies, it may be worthwhile to study the impact of longer term maternal supplementation on infant cognitive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]