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December 30, 2004 Folic Acid Can Help Prevent Birth Defects North Dakota State University Extension Service food and nutrition specialist Julie Garden-Robinson urges women who may become pregnant to get enough folic acid into their diets. While the causes of many birth defects are unknown, women can help prevent up to 70 percent of some defects if they have sufficient folic acid, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Folic acid is a B vitamin. U.S. Public Health Service officials recommend that women who could become pregnant have 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. The vitamin is available as a supplement, either as folic acid pills or in multivitamins. Folic acid also is in foods such as green leafy vegetables, broccoli, dry edible beans, lentils, peanuts, liver, citrus fruits and enriched bread, pasta, rice and cereal. “Eating a variety of foods is important for the health of pregnant women and their infants,” said Garden-Robinson, who also is the leader of the North Dakota Healthy Pregnancy Task Force, which includes Extension agents, public health nutritionists, nurses and many other health-care professionals throughout the state. “We also promote taking a folic acid-containing supplement for women who may become pregnant.” The March of Dimes has designated January as Birth Defects Prevention Month to let women know they can take steps to reduce their risk. “Folic acid has other benefits, too,” Garden-Robinson said. “It’s good for everyone. Meeting our folic acid needs may reduce our risk for heart disease, certain types of cancer and possibly even Alzheimer’s disease.” Although folic acid is readily available, the CDC estimates that two-thirds of the women in the United States do not get enough of the vitamin. About 2,500 babies, or one in 1,000, are born in the United States each year with neural birth tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly, the March of Dimes says. Spina bifida affects the spine and can cause learning disabilities and paralysis in the lower body. Anencephaly results in babies being born with underdeveloped brains and incomplete skulls, which causes them to die within a few days of birth. “According to a statewide random survey, North Dakota women are getting the message,” Garden-Robinson said. “In 2002, 59 percent of women 25 to 34 reported taking a multivitamin, compared to 47 percent of the same age group in 2001. That’s good progress.” Predicting which of the 60 million U.S. women of childbearing age will have a baby with a neural tube defect is impossible, the CDC said. In 95 percent of the instances of neural tube defects, the women had no family or personal history of such defects. Folic acid has no known toxic level, so if women ate a bowl of fortified cereal with 400 micrograms of the vitamin, took a folic acid supplement with 400 micrograms and ate foods rich in folic acid, they wouldn’t be taking too much, the CDC said. However, health officials recommend that women have no more than 1,000 micrograms a day because large amounts may hinder the diagnosis of a rare vitamin B-12 deficiency that mainly affects the elderly, and in some cases can lead to neurological damage. For more information about folic acid, visit the CDC Web site www.cdc.gov/doc.do/id/0900f3ec8000d558 or the March of Dimes Web site www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/173_769.asp. For other food and nutrition information, visit the NDSU Extension Web site www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/food.htm. ### Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
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