Effect of folate supplementation on folate status and health outcomes in infants, children and adolescents: a systematic review.

摘要

The aim of this systematic review was to collect all available randomised controlled trials on the effect of folate supplementation on folate status and health outcomes within the paediatric age group. The method employed included a structured search strategy on MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane databases, with formal inclusion/exclusion criteria and data extraction procedure. 26 studies were included. It is concluded that both serum and erythrocyte folate values reflected folate intake; however, serum folate reacted more rapidly to folate intake than erythrocyte folate. As regards health outcomes, no evidence was found to indicate that additional intake of folate can influence haematological parameters in non-anaemic paediatric patients. No evidence was found of a favourable effect of folate supplementation on the growth of infants. However, the limited data available suggested that supplementing the diet of low-birth-wt. infants with folic acid may moderate the rapid fall of serum and red cell folate in the 1st months of life.