WASHINGTON — More US women are taking daily
supplements of folic acid, a B vitamin crucial to prevent some
major birth defects, but the number remains too low, federal
health officials said on Thursday.
Forty percent of women ages 18 to 45 said in
a survey last year that they took the supplements each day, the
US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention said in a
report.
That compares to 28 percent in 1995, the CDC
said.
"A lot of women are not getting enough folic
acid," said CDC epidemiologist Heather Hamner, who worked on the
report.
CDC researchers were most concerned about
women ages 18 to 24. They had the lowest reported daily use of
supplements containing folic acid, at 30 percent, and also had
the least awareness of the need for folic acid, the CDC said.
"These women have the highest rate of
unintended pregnancies and comprise about a third of all births
in the US So it’s really important that we target our efforts to
this age group," Hamner said in a telephone interview.
The CDC analyzed a 2007 survey by the Gallup
Organization in which 2,003 women 18 to 45 years were questioned
about folic acid.
The rate had reached 40 percent in 2004
before falling to 33 percent in 2005. Figures for 2006 do not
exist.
Folic acid helps the body make healthy new
cells. It is important that women get enough of it before and
during a pregnancy to prevent major birth defects involving a
baby’s brain or spine.
In 1992, US government health experts
recommended that all women of childbearing age consume 400
micrograms of folic acid daily to reduce their risk of having a
pregnancy affected by birth defects called neural tube defects
such as spina bifida and anencephaly.
The FDA in 1998 ordered folic acid to be
added to cereal grain products, which led to a 26 percent drop
in the neural tube defect rate in the following years.
Hamner said even with that fortification,
women are not getting enough. She said other research has shown
that US women of childbearing age average about 130 micrograms
of folic acid daily, far below the recommended level.
Leafy green vegetables, fruits, dried beans
peas and nuts are some foods containing folic acid. Enriched
breads, cereals and other grain products also contain it. Folic
acid can be taken as a dietary supplement, for example in a
multivitamin.
The CDC also reported that fortification of
wheat flour with folic acid and iron was rising globally. It
said worldwide wheat flour fortification increased from 18
percent in 2004 to 27 percent in 2007. But the CDC said about
two-thirds of the world population still lacks access to
fortified wheat flour. – Reuters
