Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo assessed 38,954 children, some of whose mothers had taken the nutrient in the period between four weeks prior to and eight weeks after conception.
They found there was a reduction in the number of toddlers experiencing severe language delay - in which tots are only able to talk in one-word phrases or whose speech is unintelligible - when mums-to-be consumed folic acid in early pregnancy.
Dr Ezra Susser from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health said: 'The recommendation worldwide is that women should be on folate supplements through all their reproductive years.
Folic acid has been linked to aiding language development
'What you do during pregnancy... is not only important for birth but also for subsequent development.'
The pattern remained after Dr Susser's team took into account other detrimental factors, such as a mother's weight and education, and her marital status.
They wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association that the study can't prove that folic acid, itself, prevents language delay and more research is needed.
Usha Ramakrishnan, a maternal and child nutrition researcher from Emory University in Atlanta who wasn't involved in the study said: 'Clearly it plays a role in development that starts very early in pregnancy.
'I think this adds to what's already known about the benefits of folic acid.'
In both the U.S. and Canada grain products are fortified with folic acid to make sure pregnant women get enough of it.
Results of the study are published in the Oct. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Folic acid supplementation is already recommended for women of childbearing age, because adequate folic acid stores have been shown to help prevent major birth defects, such as spina bifida and other neural tube defects. Folic acid is important in allowing nervous system cells to reproduce and to repair themselves, according to background information in the study.
In the United States, many foods, such as breads and cereals, are fortified with folic acid. In Norway, flour is not fortified with folic acid, according to Roth.
The study included data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study, a prospective observational study of pregnant women and their offspring conducted from 1999 through 2008. Data were collected on the children until they were 3 years old.
Mothers assessed their children's language skills using a six-point language scale. Children who had only minimal expressive language, which was defined as only using one word or unintelligible utterances at age 3, were classified as having a severe language delay.
Of the nearly 39,000 children in the study, 204 had a severe language delay.
Of children whose mothers took no supplements during pregnancy, 0.9 percent had severe language delays. Just 0.4 percent of children whose mothers took folic acid supplements before or during pregnancy had severe language delays, according to the study. And, just 0.4 percent of children whose mothers took folic acid supplements in combination with other supplements before and during pregnancy had a severe language delay.
Roth said the researchers don't know exactly how folic acid might help prevent severe language delays, but said it may be due to the nutrient's effect on the nervous system.
"Knowing that neural tube defects range from milder defects of the lower spine to the most severe instances where the fetus does not develop a brain at all, we wondered whether the availability of folic acid in this crucial time of neurodevelopment also could influence other aspects, such as language development," said Roth.
Although many foods in the United States are fortified with folic acid, women who are planning to become pregnant should start taking a prenatal vitamin or a multivitamin that has at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a day, advised Dr. Deborah Campbell, director of the division of neonatology at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
But more evidence is needed to know for sure if doing so will help prevent language delays, she added.
"This is an interesting study showing an association with severe language delays, but I don't know that there's enough here to show causality," Campbell said.
On the Web:
www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/folic-acid.cfm, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health has more about the importance of folic acid.
All about: Pregnancy
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