Doubling prenatal choline could benefit children’s attention, US study finds

04 Jan 2022 --- Children whose mothers consumed double the recommended amount of choline during their pregnancy performed better on a challenging task requiring sustained attention, a US study has revealed.

“Our findings suggest population-wide benefits of adding choline to a standard prenatal vitamin regimen,” says Barbara Strupp, professor in the division of nutritional sciences and department of psychology at Cornell University and co-senior author of the study.

Few studies with human subjects have evaluated the effect of maternal choline supplementation and this is the first study to follow the children to school age, note the researchers. The study observed children aged seven on an attention task.  

“Choline is absent from most prenatal vitamins and more than 90% of expectant mothers consume less than the recommended amount,” the researchers highlight.

Choline impacting attention
The current recommended adequate intake level for choline is 450 mg per day, including for pregnant women. However, the figure was set in 1998 and is based on the amount of choline needed to prevent liver dysfunction in men, the researchers note. 

As part of the study, all women consumed a prepared diet with a specified amount of choline throughout the third trimester of pregnancy.Recommended choline levels were set in 1998 with a focus on male liver dysfunction.  

Half of the participants consumed 480 mg of choline per day, which slightly exceeds the recommended adequate intake level. The other half consumed a total of 930 mg choline per day, just over double the recommended intake level. 

“When tested at seven years of age, the children of women in the 480 mg per day group showed a decline in accuracy from the beginning to the end of a sustained attention task, while those from the 930 mg per day group maintained a high level of accuracy throughout the task,” notes the study. 

The findings on the children parallel the effects of maternal choline supplementation and deprivation in rodents, using a similar sustained attention task. The study was published in The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal. 

Upping choline intake
Choline is found in egg yolks, lean red meat, fish, poultry, legumes, nuts and cruciferous vegetables. A US study previously revealed that adding 84 g of mushrooms to the diet can increase choline levels by 5 to 6%.

Studies on the impact of choline have been ongoing for decades on rodents, which highlight that adding extra choline to the maternal diet produces long-term cognitive benefits for the offspring.

“In addition to improving offspring attention and memory throughout life, maternal choline supplementation in rodents has proven to be neuroprotective for the offspring by mitigating the cognitive adversities caused by prenatal stress, fetal alcohol exposure, autism, epilepsy, Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease,” the study adds.

“By showing that the beneficial effects of prenatal supplementation endure into childhood, these findings illustrate a role for prenatal choline in programming the course of child cognitive development,” notes Richard Canfield, co-senior author. 

Ongoing research
The role of choline in pregnant women was also spotlighted in 2020 after a US study revealed that pregnant women who consume extra choline supplements may decrease the negative impact that viral respiratory infections, including COVID-19, can have on their babies.

Choline is an “under-considered” nutrient for brain health too, with plant-based diets at risk of worsening choline deficiencies. The ingredient is critical to brain health, particularly during fetal development and also influences liver function. Shortfalls of the nutrient are linked to irregularities in blood fat metabolism as well as excess free radical cellular damage.

Edited by Andria Kades