April 22, 2002

Eating Right For A Healthy Tomorrow

The importance of folic acid in diets, is a message spreading across the area through brochures, radio announcements and even bathroom stall advertisements. In a recent survey, findings showed that 65 percent of the total population of North Dakota is currently aware of folic acid and 80 percent of child bearing aged women in the state were also aware of folic acid which is much higher than the national average of 74 percent.

Julie Garden-Robinson, Extension Service food and nutrition specialist, has been coordinating the folic acid education efforts. "We have been conducting an intervention campaign here at NDSU, Minnesota State University-Moorhead and Concordia College focused at women who are not thinking of having a child at this time. We encourage consuming enough folic acid so that someday when they are ready to have a baby, they will have consumed enough folic acid to help prevent birth defects," says Garden-Robinson.

"Men can also benefit from folic acid too. Research shows that men who consume folic acid on a daily basis have a lesser chance of developing heart disease or Alzheimer’s disease."

The Folic Acid Now campaign has been evaluated on all three campuses. "Findings on college campuses in Fargo-Moorhead showed that over 90 percent of women had heard of folic acid and 56 percent knew it could prevent birth defects but only seven percent knew the current recommendation. By mid-point evaluation, 94 percent had heard of folic acid, 76 percent knew it prevents birth defects and 16 percent knew the current recommendation."

The current recommendation for folic acid is 400 micrograms per day. The easiest way to consume folic acid is to eat fortified cereals products or through a one a day multi-vitamin supplement. Other sources of folate, the natural form of folic acid, include liver, cooked beans, and leafy greens.

"Folic acid has been shown to help prevent birth defects and that’s particularly important because most birth defects occur before a woman even knows that she is expecting a child. Besides, 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned, so consuming adequate folic acid is like an insurance policy. Researchers believe that perhaps up to 70 percent of birth defects could be prevented by adequate consumption of folic acid before and during the early stages of pregnancy," says Garden-Robinson.

One birth defect that is associated with inadequate consumption of folic acid is spina bifida. It is a birth defect of the spine that causes paralysis of the lower body.

"Preventing birth defects would ultimately have a significant impact on the reduction of health care costs," says Garden-Robinson. The average lifetime healthcare cost for a child born with spina bifida is over $530,000.

In general, North Dakotans are doing an excellent job in their awareness of folic acid compared to the rest of the United States, but again, there is still room for improvement.

Click here to download an Audio clip to accompany this story. (241KB wav file)

Click here to download an Audio clip to accompany this story. (215KB wav file)

Click here to download an Audio clip to accompany this story. (331KB wav file)

Click here to download an Audio clip to accompany this story. (313KB wav file)