The "Action for the Promotion of Women's Nutrition and Reproductive Health" project was launched to strengthen nutrition and health care in the pre-pregnancy and maternity stages

Beijing, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The kick-off meeting of the "Women's Nutrition and Reproductive Health Promotion Action" project and the consensus interpretation teacher training meeting sponsored by the China Medical Education Association and the Reproductive Endocrinology Committee of the China Medical Education Association were held in Beijing on the 27th. The project aims to focus on women's nutrition and reproductive health, with the support of evidence-based medical evidence, to explore a set of effective means and ways to educate and guide, form a practical eugenics and fertility landing measures, further guide all localities to comprehensively strengthen the nutrition and health care of the birth-appropriate population before pregnancy and the stage of pregnancy, promote eugenics and fertility, and improve the quality of the people.

The China Medical Education Association has organized experts from the Reproductive Endocrinology Committee to compile the "Chinese Expert Consensus on Reproductive Health and Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation" on the basis of full discussion, which will be published in the "Chinese Journal of Practical Gynecology and Obstetrics" in April this year.

The "Consensus" Interpretation Teacher Training Meeting was the second stage of the whole project, and experts such as Jia Wannian, vice president of the China Medical Education Association, Professor Yu Qi, chairman of the Reproductive Endocrinology Committee of the China Medical Education Association and director of the Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproduction Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Professor Wang Hua, vice president of Hunan Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, and Professor Zhang Yunshan, director and vice president of the Reproductive Medicine Center of Tianjin Central Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, were invited to share and exchange views on the hot and difficult issues of the Consensus and standardize the academic content. Reflect the scientific, authoritative, advanced and practical, and specify the direction of the lecture tour.

In the third phase of the project (From April to August this year), the association will hold six online and offline "pre-pregnancy micronutrient supplementation" lecture tour series of activities across the country to help Chinese reproductive and gynecologists understand the importance of reproductive health and multiple micronutrients, promote the content of the Consensus nationwide, and promote clinical standardized diagnosis and treatment. As a life sciences company focusing on nutrition and health, Bayer will cooperate with the China Medical Education Association to support the national lecture tour and content dissemination of "Consensus", help The healthy development of Reproduction in China, and care for the reproductive health of couples of the right age.

"Holding this project is a concrete action to implement the 'Healthy China 2030' planning outline. The 'Action for the Promotion of Women's Nutrition and Reproductive Health' project, which we launched today, is on the agenda in the context of the national policy's high emphasis on nutrition and health during pregnancy and childbirth. Jia Wannian, vice president of the China Medical Education Association, said at the meeting that holding this project is an effective measure to solve the current outstanding problems of women's health in China, and it is also the responsibility of the association to assume social responsibility.

Let the gestation avoid the "trap" trap

China is a country with a high incidence of birth defects, with about 900,000 of the 16 million newborns with birth defects every year. After the implementation of the "comprehensive two-child" policy, the number of second children has increased significantly, and the proportion of elderly pregnant women has increased, which means that the risk of birth defects has also increased.

With the recognition of birth defects and fertility issues, as well as the attention paid to the problem of preconception nutritional imbalance, evidence and recommendations for preconception supplementation with multiple micronutrients to prevent birth defects and improve fertility continue to emerge. A large number of studies have proved that supplementation with a variety of micronutrients before and during pregnancy is of great significance to the reproductive health and fetal development of family planning couples.

"Reproductive health is closely related to nutrient supplementation. The absence of nutrients such as iron, minerals, and folic acid in the mother can put infants at risk of nutritional deficiencies and congenital diseases. Professor Yu Qi of the Gynecology Endocrinology and Reproduction Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital pointed out that the current nutritional intake of women in the first trimester and pregnancy in China is not optimistic. Although the rate of folic acid supplementation in women during pregnancy increased from 20.5% in 2002 to 49.9% in 2009, the proportion of iron and vitamin supplementation was less than 20%, and micronutrient deficiencies were still serious. Data from the Report on the Status of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2015) show that 17.2% of pregnant women suffer from anemia.

In this regard, Yu Qi pointed out: "A variety of micronutrients can meet the additional needs of vitamins, minerals and trace elements in women who are trying to conceive, pregnant and lactating, and effectively prevent anemia caused by iron deficiency and folic acid in women during pregnancy." Not only that, nutrients also affect the entire life cycle of women, and perignational nutrition affects the long-term health of offspring and has an important impact on the lifetime risk of disease in offspring. ”

In view of this, the Consensus recommends that supplementation with a variety of micronutrients containing 0.4 mg or 0.8 mg of folic acid can effectively reduce the occurrence of neural tube defects, the degree of effectiveness depends on the frequency and time of supplementation, it is recommended to start daily supplementation in the first 3 months of pregnancy to ensure that the threshold concentration for effective prevention of neural tube defects is achieved, reduce the risk of neural tube defects; supplementation with a variety of micronutrients containing 0.8 mg folic acid to prevent neural tube defects or more effectively, and can effectively prevent congenital heart disease, urinary tract defects, Pylori stenosis and other birth defects; supplementation with a variety of micronutrients containing folic acid can effectively reduce the concentration of homocysteine in women, thereby reducing pregnancy complications including preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and the risk of spontaneous abortion and recurrent miscarriage.

Let the pregnancy be "prepared"

Multinutrient intake also helps optimize the reproductive environment and increase pregnancy rates.

"Multiple micronutrient deficiencies are more common in infertile women than in women in general, often with elevated homocysteine (Hcy) levels or increased oxidative stress. Supplementation with a variety of micronutrients can effectively improve the level of hcy in women and has antioxidant effects, which can reduce the damage of oxidative stress to fertility. In conjunction with the effect of nutrients themselves on the reproductive environment, oral supplementation can help to improve assisted reproductive outcomes. Yu Qi pointed out.

Not only women, reasonable supplementation of nutrients also has a certain improvement effect on male infertility. "Antioxidant therapy is one of the most widely used drug treatments for male infertility. Due to the antioxidant effects of a variety of micronutrients, proper intake can reduce oxidative stress and improve sperm quality. Yu Qi said.

For infertility groups, the Consensus recommends that women's daily supplementation with a variety of micronutrients containing 0.8mg of folic acid can reduce the risk of ovulation disorder infertility to a certain extent; increase the pregnancy rate within 1 year, reduce the time cost of successful pregnancy; necessary, reasonable and balanced dietary nutritional intake during male fertility is an important basis for eugenics; supplementation with zinc and other nutrients may improve male sperm quality through antioxidant effects.

It is worth mentioning that the offspring of women who adopt assisted reproductive technology may be at higher risk of birth defects.

To this end, the Consensus proposes that infertile women begin to supplement with a variety of micronutrients before receiving in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET), which can improve oocyte and embryo quality to a certain extent, improve clinical pregnancy rates and sustained pregnancy rates, and reduce miscarriages and increase live birth rates. Secondly, studies have shown that supplementation with multiple micronutrients containing 0.8 mg of folic acid in infertile women can reduce the risk of birth defects such as offspring neural tube defects.

Yu Qi said that at present, the public's cognition and behavior of preventing birth defects need to be further regulated. The launch of this action and the upcoming "Consensus" will provide doctors and couples of childbearing age with scientific pre-pregnancy/pregnancy nutrition interventions, health behaviors and other guidance. (End)

Source: China News Network