Folic Acid in diet could cut brain and spinal cord birth defects

02/01/06 January 9-15 is Folic Acid Awareness Week and the March of Dimes is reminding women capable of having a baby to add folic acid to their diet -- before starting a family.

If all women of childbearing age took 400 micrograms of folic acid daily -- before and during pregnancy -- it could help prevent up to as much as 70 percent of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects, (NTDs), serious birth defects of the brain and spine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since 1995, the March of Dimes and the CDC have recommended that all women of childbearing age take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, before conception and continuing into the early months of pregnancy. NTDs occur in the first few weeks after conception, often before a woman knows she's pregnant and affects about 3,000 pregnancies annually.

Unfortunately, only one-third of women take a multivitamin containing the B vitamin folic acid daily, according to a Gallup survey conducted for the March of Dimes and the CDC.

There are many ways a woman can increase the folic acid in her diet. Enriched grain foods in the United States must contain 140 micrograms of folic acid per 100 grams of grain. Good sources of folic acid or folate, which occurs naturally in food, include: enriched grain products, such as bread and pasta; fortified breakfast cereals; beans; green leafy vegetables; and orange juice.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, it funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth.

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