Premature Babies and Baby Birth Weight - New Study

A recent study conducted in India revealed that a reduction in the amount of fluoride ingested by pregnant women had positive results in terms of reduced anemia in the pregnant women, a decrease in the likelihood of a premature birth, and an increase in the average weight of the baby at birth.

Fluoride has been found to prevent tooth decay, and although fluoride is provided to most of the world’s population through the fluoridation of water, or in some cases the fluoridation of table salt, there are many people who advocate against the use of fluoride on the basis that it is actually harmful to humans.

For the purposes of this study on the effects of fluoride on pregnant women in India, the women selected consisted of pregnant women whose urine was found to contain at least 1 mg fluoride per liter. These women were divided into 2 groups, with one group receiving a nutritious diet with a low fluoride content, and the second group, the control group, receiving no special instructions and carrying on as normal. Both groups received iron and folic acid supplements.

The researchers, led by a leading fluoride expert, AK Susheela, found that the group that had a reduced fluoride intake had lower levels of anemia, and that more of these women on reduced fluoride diets carried their babies to a full term, with fewer of their babies being underweight. No stillbirths were recorded in the group on a reduced fluoride intake, whilst two stillbirths were reported in the control group. “Maternal and child under-nutrition and anemia is not necessarily due to insufficient food intake but because of the derangement of nutrient absorption due to damage caused to GI (gastrointestinal) mucosa by ingestion of undesired chemical substances, viz. fluoride through food, water and other sources,” concluded Susheela.

The results of this study in India coincided with the results of a separate study carried out in upstate New York by researchers from the State University of New York, which found that communities with fluoridated water recorded higher levels of premature births than communities with non-fluoridated water.

Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. commented: “Citizens must demand that water fluoridation be stopped. It’s disturbing that public-health officials and organized dentistry continue to ignore the overwhelming evidence revealing fluoride to be non-nutritive, unnecessary and unsafe.”