Prevalence of micronutrient deficiency particularly of iron, zinc and folic acid in pregnant women in South East Asia

Micronutrient deficiency, whether clinical or subclinical, may affect growt h, cognition and reproductive performance. In pregnant women moderate to se vere deficiencies of iron, zinc and folic acid have been shown to increase risk of low birth weight, pregnancy complications and birth defects. Any at tempt to introduce a micronutrient supplementation programme during pregnan cy must be based on adequate data on the prevalence of micronutrient defici encies, their adverse effects and the potential for reversing these through supplementation. This paper reviews parameters for assessment of iron, zin c and folic acid deficiencies in pregnancy and the available data on preval ence of these in pregnant women in South Asia. Iron deficiency and anemia a ffect 50 % or more of pregnant women, the prevalence of folic acid deficien cy may be up to 30-50 % and there is evidence to suggest that zinc deficien cy is likely to be widespread but supportive data are scarce.