Maternal Nutrition and Prevention of Oral Clefts

Each year among 135 million new births in the world, about 3% are affected with major structural birth defects, called congenital abnormalities (CAs).¹ At present the total group of CAs is the major cause of infant mortality and disabilities among children in the industrialized countries. Therefore, the prevention of CAs is an extremely important public health issue. Oral Facial Clefts (OFCs) are among the most common birth defects with varying birth prevalence rates among populations, gender, and geographic region, occurring in 1-2/1000 live births.² Its pathogenesis is multifactorial in that both genetic and lifestyle aspects such as nutrition are involved.