Healthcare

Folate is part of B complex vitamin needed for the formation of red blood cells and important substances in embryonic development.
It is already known that deficient in vitamin B could increase the risk of dementia in older population and can cause impaired neural development in infants.

Although folate is known to play an important role in brain development and function, but little known about folate effect to cognitive development and academic performance.

A recent study from Sweden found that the students there who are categorized as folate deficiency indicated with a decreased in academic performance.

Although this findings does not decide unanimously. that folate deficiency linked to poorer academic performance, but this study highlighted that the effect occurred regardless of the family’;s socioeconomic status. Whether they came from a family with high- or low-income, or their education status.

The findings reported in Pediatrics on July 11, 2011, after the researchers studied 386
teens (aged 15 years) that participated in other Swedish studies to determine risk factor of future cardiovascular disease among children aged 9 to 10 and 15 to 16 years.

Because homocysteine levels is a biomarker for folate intake and the levels can be increased when there is mutation in the gene of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase, the researchers using blood samples taken from those children to be studied.

Overall, independently from their smoking habit and family status, they found that teens with lowest tertile of dietary intake of folate had the poorest academic performance, and the risk is more apparent in low income and education family status. Therefore, they suggest to increase the consumption of foods that rich in folate source.